Hokage To Be
by Ninja's Ghost
Summary: When Naruto steals the Forbidden Scroll he learns more than Kage Bunshin.  Watch as he discovers what it really means to be Hokage, and what he does to reach his dream.  NaruxHina.  Sasuke bashing along with slight Sakura bashing.
1. Growing Up

Disclaimer: I in no way own anything that has to do with Naruto or its characters. This is my first fic, so be kind.

"Speech"

'Thought'

_Jutsu/Scroll_

**"Demon/Summon Speech"**

* * *

Hokage To Be

Chapter 1: Growing Up

Uzumaki Naruto, demon container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, jumped into the clearing with a large scroll tied to his back. Naruto walked towards the cabin that Mizuki-sensei had told him about and set the scroll on the ground beside it. He took this moment to catch his breath and reflect on the events of the day so far.

Today had been the final examination and graduation at the Ninja Academy. And despite Naruto's class standing as the dead-last, he took this test deadly seriously. He studied long and hard on all of the subjects in the class and practiced all the ninja techniques dubiously. In fact, the only part of the exam he was nervous about was the _Bunshin no Jutsu_. No matter how long he practiced or how hard he focused, he couldn't even produce a single healthy bunshin. But he wasn't too worried about that. After all, as long as he did well on the written, taijutsu, weapons, and endurance tests he could afford to miss the bunshin.

Contrary to the belief of everyone in his class, teachers included, Naruto wasn't quite as dimwitted as he let on. Of course he was no genius, far from it. But he was rather intelligent. He had learned long ago that he was safer playing the village idiot than showing what he was truly capable of. Naruto remembers the day he learned this hard lesson very well.

_

* * *

_

_Flashback_

It had been two weeks since an eight year old Naruto had started his tenure at the Ninja Academy. Today was the first day the class had been introduced to shuriken and kunai practice. Most students could barely reach the target with their weapons, much less reach the target. But Naruto surprised everyone when he hit over half of his targets, beaten only by Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto was ecstatic, so when the academy let out he rushed to Ichiraku Ramen to brag to the owner and his daughter.

Three bowls of miso ramen later, Naruto was retelling his, quite loudly, his accomplishments at the academy to Ichiraku and Ayame. Unfortunately his tale was overheard by some passerby's whom did not take well to learning that their resident 'demon' was getting stronger.

After Naruto had polished off his final bowl of ramen, he bade farewell to the proprietor and his daughter, and made his way home to his tiny apartment. On his way home he was stopped by several men stepping out of an alley.

"So brat, we here you're pretty good with a shuriken," said one man who seemed to be inebriated.

"Ha, what has this village come to that the Hokage would let him become a ninja. The old man must be gettin' senile," said another.

"No kidding. If he becomes a ninja what's to stop him from sneaking into our homes and cutting our throats."

"What, I'd never do that," said a slightly panicked Naruto.

"Don't lie to us demon, you might have fooled that decrepit old man, but you can't fool us."

Naruto didn't like where this was going so he turned to bolt in the other direction, only to run into another man.

"S-sorry sir," said a now very worried Naruto.

"Did you see that, the 'demon-brat' just attacked me."

One of the men grabbed Naruto by the arm and threw him into the side of a building. He then proceeded to bury a fist into the boy's stomach. Naruto collapsed as he gasped for air. "Did you think we would really let you get stronger demon," spat one of the villagers.

The villagers began to kick the boy while he was down and some began to throw rocks. Fortunately this spectacle drew the attention of several ANBU that arrived to break up the crowd. Naruto clambered to his feet and stumbled home.

_End Flashback_

* * *

It wasn't the first beating he'd gotten, but like his other beatings Naruto learned something from it. Like when he was five he learned that he was not welcome at the Kyuubi festival, and actually sought out by some of the bolder villagers on his birthday. He'd also learn that almost no one would take his word over anyone else's. But from this beating he learned one important thing. Not only did the village hate him, but they feared him. 

So from that day he fashioned himself a new mask to go along with cheerful one to hide his pain. He created a mask of stupidity. After all, what do people fear more; a stupid monster, or a clever one?

But Naruto would drop that part of his mask for one day if it meant passing the exam and the academy. And he might have been able to pass too… if it weren't for the interference of a certain disreputable teacher.

Mizuki had been plotting to use the 'Kyuubi-brat' in his plans for a while now, but he needed to make sure the boy failed the test. He was certain he would fail anyways, but it never hurts to be thorough. So when the written tests were handed out to the students, Mizuki placed a clever genjutsu on Naruto's paper, changing the questions and their order. The corrupt teacher couldn't do anything during the weapons or endurance portions without drawing attention to himself, but he was Naruto's sparring partner during the taijutsu portion.

Mizuki attempted to beat Naruto by just enough to make the boy look bad, but not draw any suspicious gazes. But the 'demon-brat' was better than he expected. He still won, but not by enough to affect Naruto's scores too drastically. It all came down to the ninjutsu portion, which Mizuki didn't even have to rig.

Afterwards Mizuki approached a dejected Naruto sitting on a swing in front of the academy, too depressed to even notice him approach. He expertly convinced Naruto that there was another, secret way of becoming a genin. All he had to do was steal a certain scroll and learn one technique from within it.

Naruto immediately agreed to the special test, and later that night he broke into the Hokage Tower, utilizing all of the stealth skills he had gained from the countless pranks he pulled on the village. He ran into a little snag in the form of the Sandaime Hokage himself. But with a quick Oroike no Jutsu Sarutobi was unconscious from a fierce nosebleed.

So now we find Uzumaki Naruto in the middle of a clearing, breaking the seal of the Forbidden Scroll, unaware of just how much his life would change from this moment forward.

'Alright let's see what we have here,' thought Naruto to himself. 'Okay first on the list _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_,' Naruto audibly groaned at this. "Bunshin, that's my worst jutsu, ah man," he said with his head in his hands. "Oh well, if I master this Iruka-sensei will have to pass me, dattebayo!" 'But first, let's see what else is in here.' Naruto proceeded to unroll the scroll. 'Hmm… _Shuriken Kage Bunshin_ and _Kunai Kage Bunshin__ no Jutsu,_ looks like their variations of _Kage Bunshin_, I should write these down for later.' Naruto then reached into his backpack and pulled out a black scroll and marker and copied the instructions for the jutsus.

'Okay, I think that should do it. Now what else is in here.' Unraveling the scroll further Naruto looked at the next jutsu.

_Rasengan:_

_A-Class Ninjutsu_

_The prize jutsu of the Yondaime Hokage, the Rasengan is the ultimate example of form manipulation, focusing pure chakra into a spiraling ball in the user's palm. The jutsu is extremely powerful and extremely dangerous, and when used in conjuction with the Hirashin no Jutsu the Yondaime was almost unstoppable. This technique is extremely difficult to master, requiring extreme chakra control _(at least tree-walking and water-walking exercises must be mastered)_ and large chakra reserves. _

_The Rasengan can be learned in three stages…_

Naruto was quite literally shaking with anticipation. 'A jutsu created by the Yondaime,' Naruto sprang to his feet shouting, "YATTA!!" Coming back to earth he eagerly sat down before the scroll again. 'I definitely have to learn the _Rasengan_… but it looks like its really hard to learn, there's no way I can master it tonight,' Naruto thought, slightly disappointed. 'Oh well,' a grin making its way back to his face, 'I'll just learn it later,' he thought, quickly writing down the directions for the jutsu in his spare scroll.

After finishing his impromptu homework he placed the scroll back in his backpack, satisfied with the jutsus copied. Naruto rolled the scroll back up so that only the directions for _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ were showing. His expression turned to that of extreme determination. 'Okay let's get started.'

Umino Iruka was racing through the forest, desperately trying to find his wayward student before any other hunting parties got to him. He had been beating himself up all day for failing Naruto, and had become worried when he couldn't find his favorite student after the academy let out. He still couldn't understand why Naruto would resolve to steal the Forbidden Scroll, or how he knew about it to begin with. Iruka racked his brain, trying to think of all the places Naruto could have gone. He then remembered a small clearing where he would sometimes find his honorary little brother training. With all of the speed he could muster, Iruka took off towards the clearing, unaware he was being followed by a silver haired chunin.

Naruto was doubled over, panting heavily. "Damn… that took a lot… out of me… ha, but think I've finally got it." He leaned back and sat on the forest floor, regaining his breath. As his breathing became lighter, he caught the sound of someone approaching and looked up to see Iruka-sensei jump into the clearing.

"I've found you," yelled a thoroughly pissed Iruka, staring hard at Naruto.

"Hehe, you found me sensei," said a sheepish Naruto while rubbing the back of his head, "but I only had enough time to learn one jutsu from the scroll. But that still means I pass right Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka was now confused. "What are you talking about Naruto?" Iruka now took in his student's appearance. Naruto was banged up, his clothes worn and ripped, and he was still panting slightly. 'Wow, he's really been training hard.' "Naruto, who told you that?"

"Huh, Mizuki-sensei of course," said Naruto, confused as to why Iruka-sensei didn't seem to know about the test.

Iruka's eyes widened as his ears picked up the sound of objects flying through the air. Reacting immediately, Iruka shoved Naruto out of the way as he was hit with several shuriken and kunai, pinning him to the side of the cabin. Naruto whirled around to see where the weapons had come from. He saw Mizuki standing on a branch nearby.

"Why thank you Iruka for leading me right to him," said Mizuki with a sneer. He turned his attention to Naruto. "Now Naruto, give me the scroll."

"M-Mizuki-sensei? What's going on?" asked a thoroughly confused and worried Naruto.

"No Naruto, don't do it. Mizuki only used you to steal the scroll, he lied to you. You must protect that scroll with your life," Iruka shouted.

"Ha… this entire village has been lying to him his entire life, and you accuse me of lying. Tell me Naruto, do you know why this village hates you?" asked Mizuki with a sadistic grin.

"No Mizuki, you can't. It's forbidden," Iruka shouted, panic evident in his voice.

"Of course you don't. There was a law that forbade anyone from telling you the truth."

"W-what law, what wasn't I told," asked Naruto, with much trepidation in his voice.

"The secret that the Yondaime never killed the Kyuubi, that he actually sealed it away into the body of a baby. That you, Naruto, are the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The same demon that killed Iruka's parents."

Naruto body froze as he stared at his chunin sensei. Inside he was desperately trying to come up with a denial, some proof that proved otherwise. But deep down he knew it to be true. The villager's cold stares, the hatred, the beatings, the coinciding dates of his birth and the Kyuubi's defeat. The insults like 'demon child' or 'Kyuubi-brat'. It all finally made sense.

'That's why they hated me, that's why I never had anyone growing up, why I'll never have anyone.' A tear started to make its way down his cheek. 'I never even had a chance to be happy, did I? I was cursed the day I was born.'

Naruto was still dazed when he vaguely heard Mizuki shout something about finally slaying the demon. He looked up to see his former sensei unleash a giant shuriken right towards him, but he still didn't move. It wasn't out of fear, at least not mostly. But for the first time, Uzumaki Naruto lacked the will to go on. It seems that your life really does flash before your eyes when you're about to die, which only furthered Naruto's depression. Closing his eyes, Naruto awaited the bite of the steel.

But the bite never came; instead Naruto felt something warm and wet hit his face. Opening his eyes, he was shocked once more. In front of him, Iruka was hunched over and blood dripping from his mouth, having taken the giant shuriken directly to his back. He gave Naruto a sad smile. "I 'cough' never hated you Naruto. I understand how painful it is, to grow up without anyone that cares about you, being all alone." Tears began to fall down his face. "When my parents died, I had no one to acknowledge me. I wanted attention, any attention at all, so I became the class clown just so people would notice me. You see Naruto, we're a lot alike." Iruka lowered his gaze as his tears fell to the ground. "I'm sorry Naruto, if I had been a better teacher and friend you wouldn't have had to feel that pain."

Naruto was stunned. There were so many thoughts running through his head. He as lied to his entire life, the true reason he was hated was just revealed to him. Was he a demon, was he even human? It was just too much to take all at once. So he did the only thing he could think of. He ran.

Iruka could only watch as Naruto disappeared into the forest. "Naruto…"

"You see Iruka, did you see the look in his eyes? He's going to use the scroll to get revenge on the village for what it has done to him. He's just like me."

"You're wrong," Iruka said coldly, wrenching the shuriken out of his back and launching it back at Mizuki.

Mizuki simply dodged the weapon. "Now, now Iruka don't be impatient, I'll come back to deal with you once I've finished off the Kyuubi-brat." And with that he sped off in search of Naruto.

"Damn you," Iruka cursed, moving as fast as his body would allow to intercept the traitor.

It was some time later that the two former friends were once again face-to-face in the forest. Both had made use of a henge in an attempt to fool the other. Iruka had gained a slight advantage and managed to hit Mizuki with a shoulder to his chest. Unfortunately, due to his injuries he was unable to maintain this advantage for long. This is why we find him slouched, injured and exhausted against a tree staring down a still relatively fresh Mizuki.

"Tell me Iruka, why do you care for that thing? He's just going to use the scroll to gain power and destroy the village. That's what demons do."

Unknown to both parties, Naruto was currently hiding behind a nearby tree, so was privy to their conversation.

"You're right Mizuki, that is what a demon would do."

Naruto could feel his heart break. 'So Iruka-sensei is just like the rest of the village.' He stood to leave once more, but stopped in his tracks when Iruka continued.

"But Naruto is no demon. He is my student. He may not be the hardest worker, and he may be a bit of a screw up. But he is a proud Konoha shinobi. He is Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto now had tears streaming down his face after hearing his teachers words.

Mizuki just sneered at the injured teacher. "Whatever Iruka. I was going to leave you alive for later, but you've annoyed me enough to move up your execution." He took the remaining shuriken from the strap on his back and began to spin it rapidly. "So just die," he shouted as he rushed towards Iruka, murder in his eyes.

Iruka could only sit and watch as his impending doom ran towards him. He knew he was no match for Mizuki in his current condition. His body refused to move. A sad smile spread across his face as he thought, 'At least Naruto got away.'

Mizuki was only a few meters away from his victim when something neither man expected happened. An orange blur raced intercepted Mizuki, crashing a knee to the chunin's face. Mizuki was thrown back and hit the ground hard, but he quickly righted himself to see his attacker. There, standing with his face downcast was Uzumaki Naruto, the Forbidden Scroll laid on the ground beside him. The chunin attention was drawn from the scroll by Naruto's voice. "If you touch Iruka-sensei," he started, bringing his eyes up to meet Mizuki's gaze, "I'll kill you."

Mizuki was slightly unnerved by the look in the dead-last's eyes. They held no playfulness or mischief, nor any sadness or depression. They instead held a determination and anger that Mizuki had never seen within the blue eyes before. He quickly shook that feeling off as he retorted. "Ha ha, I'm a chunin you runt, I can kill you with a single blow."

Much to Mizuki's surprise and consternation, Naruto didn't even flinch. He merely brought his hands together in a single seal. "Go for it. Anything you throw at me, I'll return a thousand fold." Gathering a massive amount of chakra that shocked and amazed the present ninja Naruto shouted a single jutsu. "_Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_." There was a massive release of smoke as the jutsu took affect. When it cleared, the two chunin in the clearing were further stunned, though one had a look of pride while the other held one of fear.

The clearing was now filled with hundreds of Naruto clones, filling the trees and forest floor with a sickening orange. Mizuki couldn't move out of sheer shock. "What's wrong Mizuki-teme, I thought you would kill me with one shot," said the clones. "Fine if you're not coming, then I'll make the first move."

The forest was soon filled with the pitiful sounds of the massive beating that took place. After a few minutes the sounds of fists hitting flesh, bones cracking and womanly screams ended. Mizuki was left unconscious and broken in the middle of the clearing. A slightly winded Naruto walked away from the traitor to Iruka. "I guess I kind of overdid it, eh Iruka-sensei," said a sheepish Naruto, rubbing the back of his head.

"Naruto close your eyes for a second," said Iruka. Naruto, although confused by the strange request, obliged. He felt his sensei remove the goggles on his forehead and replace them with something else. "Okay Naruto you can open your eyes now." Opening his eyes Naruto saw his sensei smiling at him, but something was missing. His forehead was bear. Raising his hand to his own forehead Naruto felt the cool metal with an indentation in the center.

With widened eyes Naruto looked back up to his sensei, as if asking for confirmation. "Congratulations Naruto, you pass."

Iruka had to bite back a wince as Naruto tackled him around his midsection, putting him into a painfully tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," Naruto shouted into his chest.

"You earned it Naruto," said Iruka, who finally managed to pry off his now former student. "Now I think that we should be returning that scroll to the hokage, and we might want to get Mizuki to a hospital."

Naruto put on a fake pout. "Aaw, I understand about the scroll, but do we have to drag that teme to a hospital," he said shooting a nasty look at Mizuki.

Iruka just laughed as he and his honorary little brother slowly made their way back to the village.

* * *

At that same moment in the Hokage Tower, the Sandaime felt a smile pull at his old face. "Kotetsu." Immediately a chunin appeared in his office. 

"Hokage-sama?" the young man asked.

"Alert the others that the search for Uzumaki Naruto is called off. He and the Forbidden Scroll are secure and on their way here. And send for a medic team and have them wait outside the tower."

"Hai Hokage-sama," was all Kotetsu said as he left to fulfill his orders.

Sarutobi sighed as he looked up to the portraits that lined the wall across from his desk. In particular he focused on the portrait of a blonde man with blue eyes. "Minato, it should be you in awaiting your son's arrival, not me." He now shifted his gaze to the village outside his window. "I wonder, would you have still done it if you could see what Naruto has had to go through because of it. I just wish I could have done so much more for him. But I've already failed him so many times." Tears began to form in his eyes, but he quickly dried them when he heard a ruckus outside his office. 'Minato, despite it all, I'm sure you would be very proud of your son.' With that last thought, he waited for a certain genin to enter his office.

* * *

"I don't care if I don't have an appointment, I'm goin' in there anyways," Naruto shouted at the overly rude secretary outside the Hokage's office. And with that he burst through the double doors leading to the man Naruto saw as a grandfather. As always the old Hokage was sitting behind his desk with the warm smile he gave Naruto. Naruto grinned sheepishly as he said, "Hey old man, I guess I have some explaining to do." 

Sarutobi merely chuckled, "Not at all Naruto, I've already been informed of Mizuki's role in tonight's events." His old face grew solemn as he changed the subject. "Naruto, I wish to speak to you about what Mizuki revealed to you tonight."

Naruto's grin also vanished with the change of subject matter. "Why… why didn't you tell me?" Sarutobi could see the hurt and betrayal in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but at the time I thought it was for the best. I created a law that made even the mention of the Kyuubi being sealed inside of you illegal. My hopes were that you would at least have a somewhat normal life." The old Hokage pulled out his pipe and lit it with a low level katon jutsu. "Unfortunately, the law didn't stop them from hating you and passing on that hatred to their children.

"But I'm not the Kyuubi, am I?" asked a worried Naruto.

"No!" Sarutobi said firmly. "The Yondaime wanted you to be seen as the hero of this village. Without you the Yondaime would have never been able to defeat the Kyuubi. Unfortunately the people of this village still have a lot of built up hatred for the Kyuubi, and they see hurting you and hurting the demon as the same thing."

"But why me? Why did he choose me to seal away the Kyuubi? There were other children that night. So why choose an orphan with no one to care for him or keep him safe?" asked Naruto with downcast eyes.

"I don't think we will ever know why he chose you Naruto." Sarutobi winced at the blatant lie that left his lips, but it was not yet safe for Naruto to know the truth. "But I believed he saw something special in you that made him believe you could bare a burden no one else could."

Naruto mulled this information around for a minute. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to him. What could the Yondaime see in a baby that would make Naruto a proper vessel for the Kyuubi? But if the Sandaime didn't know then there was no point in pressing the matter. With a nod, Naruto told Sarutobi to continue.

Sarutobi was relieved Naruto decided not to pursue the matter. A smile made its way back to his face. "Now, about the scroll you took. I understand you were able to learn a jutsu from it."

Naruto's gloomy mood evaporated immediately. "Sure did old man, check this out," he said placing his hands in a cross seal. "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_." In a puff a second Naruto appeared in the office, wearing the same fox like grin as the original.

"That's quite impressive Naruto, you learned a jonin level technique in the span of a few hours. Most chunin don't have the chakra reserves for that jutsu. Now before I let you go I have to ask you if you learned any other jutsu from the scroll," the Sandaime asked sternly, eyes boring into Naruto's.

Naruto didn't even blink. He had anticipated this question and had already decided on his answer. "Nah, I only had enough time to learn _Kage Bunshin_ and I was too exhausted to even think of practicing any other jutsus." It wasn't exactly a lie. After all he had only learned the _Kage Bunshin_ in the hours he had the scroll. He had just failed to mention that he had copied down a few other jutsus along with it.

The Hokage studied the young genin for a moment until he finally seemed to accept the answer. "Good, there are many jutsus in here that are a danger to not only yourself but others as well and it's best if they remain hidden." And with that, the Sandaime picked up the scroll and personally put back in its safe along with a few additional security seals, just in case. "Now I think I've held you up enough, you should go home and get some rest, you'll need to stop by tomorrow or the day after to fill out your identification papers for being a ninja." And with that he sent Naruto on his way.

As he left the tower, Naruto ran into a slightly worried and heavily bandaged Iruka waiting outside. "Naruto, how did it go? Are you in any trouble?"

Naruto just laughed at his sensei's antics. "Nah, the old man just wanted to ask some questions then he let me off the hook."

Iruka breathed out a sigh of relief. "That's good to here Naruto. Now how bout I treat you to some ramen for becoming a genin. We should be able to get a few bowls before Icharaku's closes down for the night." Never one to pass up free ramen, Naruto agreed instantly.

On their way to their favorite ramen stand, Naruto remembered something he had been meaning to ask his sensei. "Hey Iruka-sensei, do you know any good chakra control exercises."

Iruka actually stopped walking out of surprise at the question. "Well, yes, but why the sudden interest."

Naruto sweated slightly trying to think of a suitable excuse. He couldn't tell him that he needed more control to master one of the Yondaime's most powerful jutsus. "Uh, well, when I was practicing the _Kage Bunshin_ I noticed that a lot of my chakra seems to get wasted, so I figured with better control I could make more without tiring myself out." Naruto mentally patted himself on the back for actually coming up with a plausible excuse.

Iruka seemed to think it was a decent excuse as well. "Okay Naruto. Well there's the tree walking exercise." At Naruto's confused expression he decided to elaborate. "You focus chakra into the soles of your feet to stick to surfaces. Since gather chakra to the bottoms of your feet is supposedly the hardest place to gather it, it is an excellent exercise to increase not only control but reserves as well." Naruto still had a slightly incredulous look on his face. "Tell you what, you come by the academy tomorrow and I'll give you a quick demonstration."

Naruto grinned at this. "Thanks Iruka-sensei."

While eating ramen the two talked about a little bit of everything. They eventually started to talk about the possible teams. Due to his standing as the dead-last Naruto was most likely going to end up the rookie of the year's team. Naruto definitely did not like the idea of ending up on the same team as the Uchiha. But there was little he could do about it now but just hope that one of them made chunin soon.

As soon as Icharaku's closed Iruka bade Naruto goodnight and went home. Naruto on the other hand had some thinking to do. So he began to make his way to a place where he often goes to get away from it all. He walked up the path that would take him to the top of the Hokage Monument. After reaching the top he walked towards the head of the man who currently had Naruto puzzled. Soon he was standing on the visage of the Yondaime Hokage.

Naruto sat himself down cross-legged, leaned back on his arms and looked up at the night sky. As he sat there he began to think of the Yondaime's actions on that night all those years ago. The night Kyuubi attacked. He had done something that few could ever dream of doing. He defeated a demon. It may have been at the cost of his own life and Naruto's chance at a happy one, but he had defeated the most powerful bijuu on the planet.

Naruto realized that that was the life of a Hokage. They had to be willing to give anything, even their own lives to protect the village. To protect what was most precious to them they were willing to give it all. Naruto then began to reflect on his own reasons for being Hokage. He didn't want the job to protect the village. He wanted it because of the respect and recognition that came with the position.

Naruto frowned at this thought. Was he really that selfish, to put his own wants in front of the safety of the village? He recalled the events of that night. Iruka-sensei had put his life on the line to protect him. Naruto realized that that act alone made Iruka more deserving of the title of Hokage than he did.

Thinking long and hard Naruto had to ask himself some important questions. What would he give his life for? What was so precious to him that he would sooner die than see it hurt or destroyed. He began to think of the people in his life that had showed him kindness. Iruka-sensei had acknowledged him as a ninja and human being. Old man Hokage had always lent him an ear whenever he had a problem. The old ramen cook and his daughter had always showed him kindness when no one else would. And finally the mystery person who left him those notes.

_

* * *

_

_Flashback_

It had been almost three months since Naruto had started attending the academy. He was currently practicing in the training field behind the academy after hours. For the past two hours he had been trying to summon his chakra. The reason he was having so much trouble was due to the fact that when the instructors had begun the lecture on how to summon one's chakra, one of them saw fit to remove Naruto from the class. He claimed he was causing a disruption to the other children's learning when in reality he was merely asking a question. So now Naruto was left to figure it out by himself based on the tidbits of information he could get off the other students. So far he was having no luck.

He was just about to give up and go home for the day when he heard a soft thud from behind him. Turning around he saw a kunai with a piece of paper attached to it. Naruto looked around him for any sign of the person who had thrown it but found no one. Shrugging to himself he reached down and picked up the kunai and note. Inside the note were instructions explaining what chakra was and how to summon it. The script was written in very elegant handwriting that led him to believe it was written by a girl. But just what girl he never found out.

_Flashback Ends_

* * *

Over the years Naruto had received several of those notes. Sometimes they helped with training, like basic taijutsu stances or weapon throwing techniques. Other times they just offered words of encouragement. He had even received the goggles he wore so frequently as a birthday present from the mystery person. Whoever they were, Naruto considered them precious to him. 

He would give anything to protect these people and what they stood for. They saved him from loneliness. And he would go to the ends of the earth to make sure they stayed safe, including protecting the entire village. With his mind made up Naruto stood and walked to the edge of the monument. Looking down at the face of the man who had been Konoha's greatest Hokage, Naruto spoke.

"I don't know why you chose me, or even if you had a reason for choosing me, but I swear to make you proud." Naruto pulled out a kunai and brought it to his palm, slashing it open so blood would flow. "From this day forward I vow to become Hokage, not for acknowledgement or recognition, but to protect those who are precious to me and to protect the village that was so precious to you."

And with this vow he made his way back into the village, to his apartment. Deep down he could feel that this night would be a changing point in his life. And he couldn't help but smile at the prospect of what tomorrow could bring.

* * *

AN: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please review. Constructive criticism is more than welcome. 


	2. The Day After

AN: Just letting you know that I fixed some minor problems in Ch.1 and that I intend to update this story every week.

I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter and for throwing in your two cents. I intend to address any issues brought up in the reviews in later chapters.

"Speech"

'Thought'

_Jutsu/Scrolls_

**"Demon/Summon Speech"**

* * *

Chapter 2: The Day After 

Naruto awoke with a groan, silently cursing whoever it was that invented alarm clocks. He glanced at the soon to be doomed clock to see the time was only 6:00 in the morning. Groaning again Naruto had to remind himself as to why he was waking up this early. He remembered he wanted to catch Iruka-sensei early today at the academy to learn the tree walking. Iruka normally arrived early at the academy to prepare the day for his students. Naruto wanted to have as much time as possible today to learn the control exercise.

Quickly dispatching the alarm clock in the most destructive way possible, Naruto pulled himself out of bed and jumped into the shower. A few seconds and a girlish scream later, Naruto remembered he needs to check the water temperature before entering the shower. But there's no faster way to wake up then being dowsed in ice cold water.

Finishing up in the bathroom, Naruto reentered his bedroom to get dressed. Taking a look at his orange jumpsuit, he let out a sigh. He had worn this same jumpsuit for years, simply because it was bright and drew the attention of others. But it definitely wasn't proper attire for a shinobi.

'I like orange just fine, but it's not exactly easy to hide if you're wearing clothes that practically glow. If I'm going to start taking this job seriously I'll need to dress the part. I guess that means no more orange.' He paused for a second. 'Okay, a little bit of orange.' He thought with a grin.

Due to it being the only clothing he owned that still fit him, Naruto was stuck with the jumpsuit until he could buy a new wardrobe. He planned on doing so later that day. So he dressed in his jumpsuit, hopefully for the last time.

After a quick breakfast of instant ramen, Naruto started to make his way to the Ninja Academy. On his way there Naruto began to think of the new training he was about to undergo. 'Ha, with this training I'll be one step closer to Hokage.' That thought made him pause. What did it take to become Hokage? 'The Hokage is the strongest ninja in the village. Not just in body, but strength of the mind as well.' He began to alter the course of his trek slightly.

'I wasn't exactly the smartest kid in my class, and my genjutsu skills suck worse than anything. I have a pretty decent grasp of basic taijutsu, but that could always be improved.' Naruto mentally started to tally up the amount of training he would need to do to correct these deficiencies. 'Man, this is gonna take a hell of a lot of work,' he thought, but his eyes took on a look of fierce determination. 'But I will become Hokage, no matter what.'

Before his meeting with Iruka-sensei, Naruto took a quick detour to the Shinobi Library. He had only been there once before, but was soon thrown out by the harpy of a librarian and hadn't been back since. He decided to enter under a henge this time around.

Outside the library Naruto used _Henge no Jutsu _to appear as a slightly younger boy with brown hair, green eyes, and whiskerless cheeks. He also changed his clothes, since he was the only villager that actually wore that much orange. Upon entering the library, he had to fight back a frown when the librarian came into view, instead settling on a friendly smile.

"Good morning young man, may I help you?" asked the woman in a polite voice.

'You wouldn't be so friendly if you knew who I really was,' thought Naruto. "Yes ma'am, I'm attending the academy and I'd like to get in some extra studying.

"Of course young sir, the library is always open to shinobi in training. You should find all you need through the doors behind me."

Naruto actually had to hold off a bitter laugh. 'Where was this helpful attitude the last time I was here?' But his polite smile held, and he thanked the woman for her help.

Passing through the double doors, Naruto stood in awe at the amount of books and scrolls the library possessed. There was no one here this early in the morning, so Naruto was free to look around without being disturbed. Shelves that reached the ceiling were set up throughout the library, making it look more like a maze to Naruto than anything. Desks were place in different parts of the library for study. Naruto looked closely at some of the shelves and noticed that they were separated by subject. That would make looking for information that much easier for him.

Naruto saw sections for history, politics, prominent clans of Konoha, strategy and theory scrolls. There were also sections for basic fuinjutsu, kenjutsu.. He then came across sections for tai, nin, and genjutsus. Naruto noticed that none of the jutsus there were above low chunin level. 'That makes sense, after all you can't make powerful jutsu accessible to anyone,' Naruto thought to himself.

After somewhat familiarizing himself with the layout of the library, Naruto had one thought on his mind. 'Damn! It's gonna take me years to find what I need, not including actually learning it.' Naruto audibly groaned. 'Well I don't have time to go looking for some books right now.'

As he turned to leave Naruto had a sudden idea. Placing his fingers into a now familiar seal Naruto softly called out, "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_." Suddenly he was surrounded by a dozen or so clones, all with the henge of the brown haired boy. "Okay, here are your orders clones. I want most of you to search the library and find books and scrolls that would be helpful to my training and write them down in this scroll," said the original, pulling a blank scroll from his backpack. "You two," he said signaling to the two clones nearest to him. "I want you to keep an eye on the door, and if the librarian or anyone else comes in I want you to dispel yourselves before you're spotted. You got all that."

"Aye, aye boss," chorused the clones.

"All right, I'll be back later today to check on your progress."

And with that Naruto left the library through an open window, so the librarian wouldn't become suspicious hearing anyone in the library if he left.

Shortly after resuming his trek to the academy, Naruto arrived at his destination. He found Iruka-sensei in his classroom looking over a list of candidates for a new chunin instructor now that Mizuki's betrayal left a spot open. He immediately looked up when Naruto entered the class, and a grin split across his face.

"Naruto, I didn't expect you so soon. I'm guessing you want to get started on the training, neh?" asked Iruka in a slightly hopeful voice. He really didn't want to go over paperwork this early in the morning, and he could use the distraction.

"Sure Iruka-sensei, if you don't mind I'd like to get started as soon as possible."

"No problem Naruto. Let's go out back," said Iruka as he stood from his desk. A few moments later found Iruka and Naruto, standing in front of a good sized tree. "All right Naruto, the trick to this exercise is to emit a constant flow of chakra from the soles of your feet." Putting his hands in a ram seal, Iruka began to walk up the side of the tree as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Wow. Iruka-sensei, that is sooo cool," said a now very excited Naruto.

Iruka grinned at his favorite student's antics. "Now, you have to also emit a specific amount of chakra. If you don't use enough you won't stick to the tree. If you use too much you'll actually repel yourself from the tree. So you need to focus on using a constant amount of chakra." Iruka pulled out a kunai and threw it at Naruto's feet. "Use that kunai to keep track of your progress by making slashes in the tree." Looking at his watch Iruka knew that it was time to get back to work. "Sorry Naruto, I wish I could help more, but I need to get back to work."

Naruto just smiled at his teacher. "No problem Iruka-sensei, you've been more than helpful." He then flashed a cocky grin. "I'm sure I'll have this mastered by the time you're done with work."

"Don't be so sure Naruto, it normally takes a person several days to master this technique, and with your chakra levels it will be even harder for you," said Iruka, once again entering lecture mode.

"Oh yeah, how about a little bet then. If I master this by the end of the day, you treat me to ramen. If I don't I'll help you file your paperwork." Naruto's confident grin never left his face.

Iruka thought about it for a second. He had learned long ago that betting against Naruto was hardly ever a good idea. But if this helped him work harder and advance his training, then he wouldn't mind risking a dinner for it. Plus if in the likely event he doesn't make it, he still had a helper with his paperwork. It was win-win.

"All right Naruto. You have until 7:00 p.m. to master this technique. I'll come out to check your progress at that time." With that Iruka returned to his class, leaving Naruto to his training.

Glancing back at the retreating form of his teacher, Naruto turned back to the tree before him with determination in his eyes. Focusing his chakra to his feet, Naruto ran at the tree at a dead sprint. Unfortunately, he didn't make it two steps up the side before gravity took affect and Naruto was painfully reintroduced to mother earth.

Rubbing the lump on his head Naruto got back to his feet. "Okay, so this may be a little tougher than I thought." Still undeterred Naruto took off towards the tree again.

Three hours later…

Naruto was getting aggravated. He had been at this stupid exercise for hours, and he'd hardly made any progress whatsoever. He couldn't keep a constant amount of chakra in his feet. He either overdid it and blew himself off the tree or he used too little and fell back to the ground. Naruto could only hope his clones were having better luck than he was.

Konoha Library…

The Naruto clones had been busy cataloguing the books their creator might find useful, but it was slow going. They were sometimes interrupted by the librarian returning a book to its shelf, or someone coming in to check a book out. Fortunately the clones were able to disguise themselves using a simple henge to change into a scroll or book, while one remained in plain sight so as not to arouse suspicion.

The coast was clear at the moment, and the clones were once again searching through the library. One clone in particular was currently on a ladder searching some of the higher shelves for useful scrolls. 'Hmm, Elemental Chakra. This should be interesting,' the clone thought. Turning to climb back down the ladder, the clone accidentally knocked over a thick, boring book explaining the methods in which jutsus are ranked. The thick tome happened to be on a direct course with the head of a passing Naruto clone.

"Heads up," the clumsy clone called out softly. He was answered by an eloquent 'huh' followed by a soft pop as the book hit with enough force to dispel the clone. The offending clone winced and simply said, "Woops."

Academy Training Field…

Naruto was about to make another attempt up the tree when he paused mid step. A memory of the incident at the library flashed in his head. 'Stupid clones, if their not careful there won't be any left when I go back… to the… library?' How could he have possibly known what had happened all the way over at the library from here? 'It's like I remember everything the clone does up to the point it was dispelled.' The possibilities of this new development passed through Naruto's head, but he needed to test it to make sure.

Taking a shuriken from his pouch Naruto launched the weapon randomly into the woods. He quickly created a clone. "Go find where that shuriken landed then dispel yourself." With a quick nod the clone was off. A few minutes later, Naruto felt the clone's memory enter his mind. He saw the shuriken lodged in a small sapling next to a large boulder.

Now Naruto started to get excited. 'If I learn whatever my clones learn, then I could gain a lot of knowledge and experience in a fraction of the time it normally would take.' Creating another clone, Naruto had it henge into a young girl. "I want you to run to the library and tell the clones to forget about writing down the scroll titles and try to read as much as possible." The clone nodded and took off towards the library.

'Now, I wonder if this will help me with tree walking. Chakra control is basically about mental control and experience.' Naruto formed the seal for the jutsu that was fast becoming his favorite, calling forth several dozen Narutos into existence. The clones spread out to suitable trees and began the exercise the original was recently trying. 'Well, even if this doesn't help my control, this many clones has got to be good for increasing my chakra stores,' Naruto thought with a grin.

Four hours later…

Naruto had made a little headway in the tree climbing exercise. He could now go about ten feet without losing his footing. But he had yet to dismiss his clones. Believing that the clones had enough experience, Naruto dispelled the jutsu. At first Naruto didn't think it had worked when he didn't feel any different, but he soon felt the effects of this new training hit him full force. Information flooded his mind and Naruto felt as if his mind was going to split open from the strain. Grasping his head in his hands, Naruto collapsed onto his knees when a wave of dizziness and nausea hit him.

He laid there for a few minutes until his agonizing headache dulled to a slight throbbing. Making his way to his feet while panting heavily, Naruto slowly regained his bearings. 'Note to self, never dispel that many bunshins at once ever again.'

Once he had caught his breathe and rested for a moment, Naruto once again turned to his tree. Focusing his chakra, Naruto could immediately feel the affects. His chakra was much easier to control and fluctuated much, much less. Instead of running, Naruto walked steadily to the tree and was amazed at the ease with which he ascended its side. He soon made it past his previous marks and was nearly at the top of the tree when he felt his control waver slightly. Spinning quickly, Naruto ran down the tree to the ground.

Once he was back on a much more horizontal plane, Naruto leapt into the air with a loud 'Whoop'. In a matter of hours his terrible chakra control had improved immensely. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was a definite improvement. But he would need a lot more control if he is to master the _Rasengan_. Naruto tried to think of ways to further improve his control. He then remembered a basic chakra control exercise that Iruka-sensei had taught his class when he was younger.

Racing up the side of the tree once more, Naruto soon came down with a single leaf. Placing it on his forehead, Naruto emitted just enough chakra to make the leaf stay put without blowing away. He then turned to the tree and tried running up the side again. Having to focus his chakra in more than one place was more difficult than he imagined, and he soon lost control after only a few feet.

Naruto let the leaf fall from his head as he performed_ Kage Bunshin_ with the same amount of chakra he used last time. His eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw that he created nearly double the amount of bunshins then he had before. 'Okay it's official. Chakra control. Kicks. Ass.' Each of the clones soon found a tree and a leaf to continue their training.

7:00 p.m.

Iruka had just finished with all of his paperwork and was making his way to the training field he had left Naruto in. If he was honest with himself, he didn't really expect that much from Naruto. The tree walking exercise was difficult for anyone to learn who didn't already have perfect chakra control. And for Naruto, with his abysmal control, to learn it in a single day was ludicrous. But Iruka knew that Naruto wouldn't stop working until he had mastered the technique, no matter how long it took him. He was, however, looking forward to having an assistant to handle his paperwork. That thought brought a grin to Iruka's face.

When he entered the training field, Iruka could immediately tell Naruto had been working almost non-stop since he had left. He was haggard, panting heavily, and had several bruises and scratches from falling repeatedly. Once again Iruka smiled. It was good to see Naruto dedicate himself so readily to becoming a good shinobi.

Iruka stopped walking a few feet from Naruto. Naruto looked up at his sensei still panting heavily. "I can tell you've been working hard Naruto, but you couldn't really expect to master this in a single day. Heck, it took me a whole week to learn it. So don't be too down on yourself for not getting the hang of it immediately." Iruka was surprised, however, when Naruto's face split into a grin. Iruka recognized that grin, it was the same one he used when he knew something you didn't, like when he was about to pull off a prank.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that Iruka-sensei," said a voice from above the two. Looking up, Iruka's jaw almost unhinged itself when he saw Naruto hanging upside down from a high branch by nothing but his chakra. Looking back down at the Naruto on the ground, he was further surprised when it erupted into a cloud of smoke.

'_Kage Bunshin_?!' thought Iruka. "What…how…when," Iruka sputtered. Taking a moment to organize his thoughts Iruka got out a coherent sentence. "How the hell did you master that in a single day," he shouted.

Naruto just laughed at his teacher's reaction. "You'd be amazed at the versatility of _Kage Bunshin_ Iruka-sensei," he said with a foxy grin.

The answer hit Iruka like a ton of bricks. He had heard that _Kage Bunshin_ could be used to accelerate training by gaining the experience of the clones. But for Naruto to figure that out so soon after learning the technique and to use it to such an affect was incredible.

Iruka sighed in defeat. "Well Naruto, I guess you won the bet so ramen is on me tonight."

"All right, free ramen!" Naruto shouted. He calmed down after a moment. "Okay Iruka-sensei I'll meet you at Icharaku's in an hour. I got to run home to clean up, I smell worse then Kiba."

Iruka laughed at Naruto's joke. "All right Naruto, I'll see you there."

Bidding his farewell, Naruto began to run back to his apartment. After he got out of sight of his teacher, Naruto started to run in the direction of the library. He knew he would have to be careful when he dispelled the library clones. They each had been learning several different things for the past day instead of all the same thing like those he used for tree climbing. He decided to dispel them one at a time to avoid mental overload.

Naruto jumped through the window of the library, making sure he wasn't seen by anyone. When he first entered the library, he was confused as to why there didn't seem to be any clones around. He spotted one that still had the henge he used this morning. "Hey, where are all the others," he whispered as to not draw attention from the other patrons.

The clone just smiled one of those grins and snapped his fingers. Immediately all of the library occupants currently in the library stopped what they were doing and walked over to Naruto and his clone. Naruto was momentarily confused as to why they did this until he felt slight chakra fluctuations coming from them. "_Henge no Jutsu_?"

"Yep boss, we figured it was too much of a hassle to keep hiding when someone came in, so we each henged into someone else and reentered the library so we didn't have to stop working."

Naruto was shocked. He was genuinely surprised that a clone could behave so independently, but figured that if they were all basically him they would also think like him. Naruto then began to slowly dispel the clones to avoid mental overload.

The clones, despite their time at the library, hadn't found much between having to hide and not having a clear goal. Naruto had to remember to try this again when he had a better idea of what to look for. Fortunately the time hadn't been wasted as the clones had been busy finding interesting and useful subjects for him to look more into later on. Naruto looked at the pile of scrolls and books the clones had found.

One clone had found a few scrolls on genjutsus. Naruto realized that because genjutsus were such a subtle field of shinobi techniques and required precise control, he would probably never be very proficient with them. But it definitely wouldn't hurt to read up on them to better know how to spot and dispel a genjutsu. After all, it wouldn't do for a Hokage to be fooled by a simple genjutsu.

The clone that read up on taijutsu found one very interesting book. It was called _Fanning the Flames of Youth_ by Maito Gai. It described in detail several training methods to increase ones strength, stamina, and speed. The methods in the book seemed to be a bit on the extreme side, and that was putting it lightly. Whoever this Maito Gai was he was either crazy or insanely strong… probably both.

There were several scrolls dealing with ninjutsu. Like Naruto, the clones found this subject to be the most intriguing. There were few actual jutsus; however, most of the scrolls described the basic aspects of ninjutsu. One scroll was about elemental chakra and elemental jutsus. From what the clones had read Naruto knew that shinobi normally have a natural affinity for a certain element. The scroll vaguely described a way to discover your affinity with the use of special chakra cards. 'I'll have to ask Iruka-sensei about that… or maybe old man Hokage when I see him tomorrow.'

There were also scrolls that explained hand seals and how each hand seal was used to specifically focus chakra in a certain way. Another scroll was on the theory behind creating jutsus. Naruto was greatly interested in both of these scrolls. With a better understanding of both seals and the process of creating jutsu, Naruto could create his own signature jutsus. 'A Hokage's got to have some of his own jutsus, right?'

Naruto recreated his clones and reapplied the henges they used to enter the library. Over the next half hour the clones left the library with the collected scrolls at random intervals as to avoid suspicion.

Back at his apartment Naruto remembered he wanted to shop for clothes today. There was no way for him to find clothes now when he was supposed to meet Iruka-sensei for ramen in a few minutes. Naruto then smacked himself in the head and formed his favorite jutsu. He created five _Kage Bunshin_ and had one use a henge to change to the same boy he was at the library. Handing the bunshin a large chunk of his savings, the clone went off on his own for a little shopping spree. Naruto had his remaining clones start to read the scrolls he brought home. He then left his apartment to claim his winnings from today's bet.

An hour and a half later found Naruto leaving Icharaku's and a very depressed Iruka, who was still staring at his now empty wallet with tears in his eyes. On his way home Naruto saw a boy with black haired boy with a brooding expression walking his way from across the street.

'Uchiha,' thought Naruto with a scowl. Sasuke noticed this and merely sneered at the blonde.

"What are you looking at dobe, shouldn't you be preparing for _another_ year at the academy."

Naruto was about to retort when he thought better of it. His forehead protector was currently in his pocket after it accidentally fell in his ramen broth while eating. Sasuke didn't realize Naruto had passed. It would be so much sweeter to see his face at the team placements when he discovered that Naruto had actually passed. So Naruto just settled for throwing a dirty look at the Uchiha. This didn't go unnoticed by a few passing fan-girls.

"Hey, don't look at Sasuke-kun like that you loser," shouted one.

"Yeah just because he's better than you doesn't mean you can look at him that way," shouted another.

Normally Sasuke would groan about fan-girls following him around, but decided to just smirk at Naruto. "There right you know, but don't feel bad. Not many could hope to match an Uchiha. We are the elite after all."

Naruto was royally pissed now, but he swallowed his anger and stalked off home. Once Naruto entered his home he immediately created a clone that henged to look like Sasuke. "So you think you're so great teme. Well eat this," he said as he buried his fist into the clones face, causing it to poof into a cloud of smoke.

"Damn Uchiha, he thinks he's so great because this entire village put him up on a damn pedestal. Someone needs to knock him down a peg." Naruto paused for a second, and then shook his head. 'No I shouldn't think like that, my goal is to become Hokage, not beat some pompous ass into the ground,' he then grinned, 'although, if I happen kick his ass along the way...' He finished his thought with a slightly evil chuckle.

Naruto was brought out of his musings by sound of a scroll being laid down on the kitchen table. He finally remembered the clones he had created earlier and soon dispelled them. After taking a moment to get over the influx of new info, Naruto entered his bedroom to check out the new wardrobe his shopping clone had gotten him. It wasn't nearly as expensive as he thought it would be, but he realized he should have expected that. After all, the shop keepers wouldn't recognize him in order to overcharge him.

As Naruto looked through the new outfit he couldn't help but smile. The clone had picked several pairs of pants, mostly black along with some dark blue ones. It had also purchased some dark colored shirts, again mostly black and dark blue, but also a few white ones. The jacket is what he really liked. It also was mostly black in color, but along the shoulders and upper back it was orange. Not the same luminescent orange as his jumpsuit, but orange nonetheless. In the center of the back where the orange met the black was the red swirl that adorned his current jumpsuit. The clone had also gotten a black clothe to attach his forehead protector to replace his blue one. And finally he had a few pairs of black shinobi sandals.

Overall Naruto was very happy with his new wardrobe. It made him look more serious, but not overly so. The orange was a little darker so he wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb anymore. Naruto reverently placed his new clothes in the top drawer of his dresser and prepared for bed.

He had definitely made some progress today. Granted, he hadn't done much in terms of training besides gain some chakra control, but it was definitely a step in the right direction. 'Maybe I should come up with some kind of schedule, that way I can make the most of the day.' After finishing that thought, Naruto let out a monstrous yawn. 'Well, I guess the schedule can wait a day or two. I'll wait until after I meet my team. After all, my schedule would have to fit around team practices and missions.'

Naruto discarded his old clothes and climbed into bed. It had been a long day and he was tired, both physically and mentally. But he felt good about himself. Naruto still had a long road ahead of him, but today was the first step towards his dream.

He glanced down at his hand to the wound he had made his vow on. It was already healed, leaving only a slight discoloration where the cut had been. 'I've always healed quickly, I guess now I know why,' he thought, his hand subconsciously rubbing the seal on his stomach. 'But I am not the Kyuubi, and one day this village will see that.' And with that final thought he drifted off to a sleep filled with dreams of Hokage robes and seas of ramen.

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AN: I hope you liked the new chapter, the next one should be out soon. Keep the reviews coming. 


	3. Secrets Revealed

AN: Not a whole lot of action in this chapter, it's mostly a setup for chapters to come.

"Speech"

'Thought'

_Jutsus/Scrolls_

"**Demon/Summon Speech**"

* * *

Chapter 3: Secrets Revealed 

Naruto was awoken again, miraculously, by his still working alarm clock. This time Naruto was able to reign in his urge to obliterate the time piece. He didn't much feel like paying for a new one. So it was with great restraint that Naruto gently turned off his alarm and began to climb out of bed. Once again he had to remind himself why he was getting up this early… again.

Then he remembered what he had read in Gai's book. It suggested getting into a habit of an early morning workout to increase stamina and warm up for the day. So he put on a pair of dark blue pants and a dark green shirt for his morning workout. After grabbing a quick breakfast Naruto left his apartment and made his way to the village gates.

Gai had suggested running laps around the village, then do a hundred push ups and sit-ups, do some calisthenics, and kick and punch a training log a fifty times with each limb. The fact that he had suggested doing this with fifty pound weights strapped to each limb forced Naruto to once again question the sanity of the man.

Once Naruto had reached the gates he turned and began his run. After setting a good pace Naruto began taking in his surroundings. This early in the morning there were few people awake and walking around. The only sounds he heard were those of leaves rustling and birds singing. Naruto found it all incredibly peaceful. He continued running around the village for the next half hour. After he had finished the run he made his way to one of the many training fields to complete the rest of his workout.

It took him another ten minutes to find a suitable training field. He wanted one that looked relatively unused and secluded so that his training wouldn't be easily stumbled upon. It's not that his new training was secret. Naruto just didn't want to broadcast to the world that he was getting stronger and he was further developing his skills. What kind of ninja shows off all of his abilities? Deception is a shinobi's greatest tool after all.

Naruto wanted to keep the true extent of his abilities hidden, to an extent. He wouldn't handicap his own team just to deceive others, but he wasn't quite ready to give up the advantage of being underestimated. It was the main reason he had beaten Mizuki so easily.

Not wanting to waste anymore time Naruto began to do a hundred pushups, followed by a hundred sit-ups, threw his kicks and punches, and finished with the calisthenics. Needless to say, Naruto was exhausted by the time he was finished. Just the thought of doing all of that with weights on was enough to make him want to cry.

'Well if this doesn't make me stronger, then I doubt anything will.'

With that thought Naruto picked himself up and trudged home. On his way he realized that he still needed to buy weights for his taijutsu training. That made him start to think of all the things he had bought and still needed to buy.

He had just purchased a new wardrobe the night before he still needed to buy training weights. Now that he thought about it he needed to get a new set of shuriken and kunai. Naruto had been using the same set for years now since he couldn't afford a new set with the inflated prices he has to pay. And while he took very good care of the weapons he did have, nothing lasts forever. Gai's book also recommended a diet of different foods that Naruto rarely ever bought.

Fortunately, Naruto had saved quite a bit of money over the years. He had learned long ago that a majority of the shops and stores in the village sold him inferior products at inflated prices. And there was only so much he could afford on the Sandaime's allowance. So Naruto had to become extremely frugal with his money. Whenever he came across cheap equipment or clothing, he'd buy it and make sure it lasted as long as possible. Basically the only food Naruto ever ate was ramen, which was extremely cheap. So Naruto had saved a sizable amount of money.

'I guess it's time to dig out the rest of my savings. Oh well, what's the point in having money if you're not going to spend it eventually?' He'd have to worry about that later. Right now he needed to get ready to go and fill out his papers at the Hokage Tower. So he merely continued on his way to his apartment.

After a quick shower, Naruto clothed himself as he had the night before, in black pants and his black/orange jacket. He then turned to his kitchen table, which was currently littered with scrolls from the library. The clones had only made it partially through most of them, but Naruto was very pleased so far. So Naruto formed some hand seals and five clones popped into existence around him. "Alright I want you guys to read these scrolls then dispel yourselves one at a time." All of the clones nodded in unison.

'Hmm, having to explain my plans to my own clones seem kind of tedious, not to mention I might not have the chance in a combat situation. But they're basically me, so they should know what I know, right.' With that thought, Naruto thought of a random number and created another _Kage Bunshin_. Naruto turned to the bunshin and asked what number he was thinking of.

"113,088," the clone replied simply.

Naruto just smiled and dispelled the clone. That would make things a little simpler. As long as he thought of his intentions beforehand, his clones would already know what to do. _Kage Bunshin _really was an incredible jutsu.

These thoughts pulled Naruto along another tangent. If he could control where his _Kage Bunshin_ appeared when he created them, Naruto would greatly increase their effectiveness in battle. 'Ugh, if I keep getting distracted like this I'll never get to the tower.' So, without further delay Naruto took off towards the Hokage Tower.

Meanwhile, at Hokage Tower…

Sarutobi was currently sitting behind his desk, fingers interlaced in front of his face, deep in thought. He had spent the entire day yesterday reviewing and signing off on all ninja registration papers. And today was going to be filled with the same thing. But that wasn't what was occupying his mind at the moment. That honor fell to a scroll that was now laid out in front of him.

The scroll was signed by one Namikaze Minato, given to Sarutobi personally on the day the Yondaime died. The old Hokage sadly remembered the night he was given the scroll.

_Flashback_

The terrified screams of the villagers could be heard from the Hokage's office. Genin and low level chunin were trying to evacuate the civilians as quickly as possible. It would only be a matter of time before the force of nature known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune finally breached the walls surrounding the village.

The ninja of the village could do little more than draw its attention for a while. Every weapon, jutsu, or any form of attack was brushed off and ignored as if they were merely annoying insects. The only thing that allowed the ninja to keep fighting a hopeless battle was the belief that their leader would find some way to stop it. They were stalling for this chance as much as they possibly could.

Their possible savior was currently in his office at the Hokage Tower, finalizing his preparations to defeat the Kyuubi. The Yondaime Hokage was staring intently at the scroll in front of him, making sure everything was in order. If anyone were to see him now they would be deeply troubled by the sight. Namikaze Minato, the man who became the strongest shinobi to ever come out of Konoha, now looked broken and defeated. In one night he lost, or was about to lose, everything he held most precious to him.

His wife of less than a year, Kushina, had just passed away giving birth to their son, Naruto. And in less than an hour, he would have to place a burden no one should have to carry on his own son. He would seal the Kyuubi inside of Naruto in order to save the village. Merely thinking about what he was going to put his son through made him sick to his stomach. And the worst part for him was that, after tonight, he knew that Naruto would no longer have a family to care for him. But Minato knew he could not ask another family to make a sacrifice he could not.

Looking to the side of his office, he looked at the crib that now held his son. Standing from his chair, Minato walked to his sleeping son. Naruto looked so peaceful, sleeping without a sound. 'I'm so sorry Naruto for what I'm going to do to you,' he thought while tears formed in his eyes, 'I just hope that you'll find it in your heart to forgive me someday.'

He was interrupted from his musings when three people entered his office, only one of whom he was happy to see. The former Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi and his two former teammates entered Minato's office.

"Hokage-sama, the Kyuubi will be upon the village at any moment, how can we stop it?" asked a slightly panicked of Mitokado Homura.

"Yes, our ninja can no longer hold back the demon, if something isn't done soon the village will be destroyed," said Utatane Koharu.

A small cry allowed the three aged shinobi to acknowledge the crib in the room.

"Minato," started Sarutobi, "you're not going to use _that_ jutsu, are you?"

"I have no choice Sarutobi, it's the only way to stop the Kyuubi."

Homura approached the baby. "Who is this child? And what jutsu are you two talking about?"

The Yondaime sighed heavily. "The child is an orphan that I discovered in the hospital. His name is Uzumaki Naruto, and he is going to save this village."

The Sandaime's old teammates stared at Minato in shock. Sarutobi's eyes, however, were filled with great sadness. He, of course, knew who the baby really was, having been one of the few present at his birth. And he knew the price of the jutsu Minato intended to use.

The Yondaime ignored the looks he was receiving and continued. "I'm going to use a variant of the _Shiki Fuujin_ in conjunction with a few other seals to trap the Kyuubi no Kitsune inside of Naruto," he said, further shocking those present.

Koharu snapped out of it first. "So you'll weaken the Kyuubi, then we can finally kill it."

"NO!!" shouted Minato, fully enraged. Homura and Koharu were immediately frozen by the intense killing intent emanating from their Hokage. Minato continued in a cold tone. "This child will merely be the prison, not the Kyuubi. He should be a considered a hero for what he must carry. Without him the Kyuubi will destroy this village." The look in his eyes made sure there was no room to argue.

"Minato, please," the Sandaime started, "let me perform the jutsu. The village still needs you and…" but he was cut off.

"No old man," said the Yondaime affectionately. "You don't know the correct seal combinations, and we don't have time to teach you. Besides, it's my responsibility as Hokage."

Sarutobi wanted to argue, but knew it was useless. Whenever this man had his mind set on something, there was nothing you could do to stop him. Minato turned back to his desk and picked up a scroll. He walked back to Sarutobi and handed it to him.

"I don't want Naruto to know of his burden until he's ready to handle it. When that day comes I want you to give him this." The request seemed simple enough, but Sarutobi saw the look in Minato's eyes. Whatever was in this scroll, it was incredibly important to him.

"Of course Minato-kun. I promise to watch over him."

"Thank you Sarutobi. Thank you."

Hours later…

The newly reinstated Sandaime now stood before the village council, discussing the new jinchuuriki of Konoha.

"We should kill the demon now while it is still weak," shouted Uchiha Fugaku. There were several shouts of agreement followed.

"No you fool, the seal was just applied. Killing him may very well release the Kyuubi," countered Hyuuga Hiashi. Sarutobi sent a silent thank you to the man.

"Perhaps the boy could be useful. With the power of the Kyuubi, he could become very powerful," offered a man named Danzo. Sarutobi didn't even want the council to begin down this path of discussion. So he decided to end it before it got any further.

"Enough," he shouted, effectively silencing the council. "This boy is a hero. I will not even hear of him being used in such a manner. The Yondaime would never allow a child to be turned into a weapon."

"But Hokage-sama," said Danzo, "what of the scroll left to the boy by the late Yondaime."

Sarutobi's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but then hardened into a glare as he shifted his gaze to his former teammates. Koharu shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, but Homura remained unfazed. "Now Sarutobi, don't look at us like that. It is important that we know of if the scroll contains any of the Yondaime's plans concerning young Naruto. Plus it is important to know of any sensitive information that could be passed to someone who may prove to be… unstable." Murmurs of agreement spread throughout the council.

Sarutobi growled. This was bad. If Naruto's heritage got out he'd be in danger, not only from other villages, but from the conniving members of the council. But he couldn't do anything to stop the council from simply reading a scroll. So it was with great reluctance that he handed over the scroll for their inspection.

The Sandaime was shocked by what was written in the scroll. Or rather, what wasn't written. The letter was addressed to Naruto in a very formal manner. It explained the sealing of Kyuubi and the part Naruto played in the events. The Yondaime apologized for the burden he place on Naruto and asked him to understand his decision. It was signed "_Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage._"

The scroll made no mention of Naruto's true heritage and was written in a form that seemed completely wrong for a final letter from father to son. It perplexed and slightly angered Sarutobi, but he did not allow his features to show it. 'Why did Minato lead me to believe this scroll was so important?' Then it hit him.

The Yondaime was a genius. He had to have known that the scroll would be reviewed by the council. The true contents of the scroll must have been hidden. Sarutobi guessed that the true information could only be unlocked by Naruto.

The council, satisfied that the scroll was safe, returned it to the Sandaime. Some of the members seemed to be disappointed by the contents of the scroll. They most likely hoped to, in some way, twist the words of the Yondaime in order to either execute Naruto or turn him into a weapon. But the scroll was carefully worded so that its intentions could not be misinterpreted.

Sarutobi held in a sigh of relief when the scroll was returned to his possession. He promised Minato that the scroll would be given to Naruto when he was ready. He intended to keep that promise.

_Flashback Ends_

Now it was twelve years later, and that very same scroll was now lying on Sarutobi's desk. When Naruto had been made aware of his burden two days ago, Sarutobi was afraid of overloading him with too much too soon. Especially since he had no idea what the scroll really said. He just hoped that Naruto understood why he had withheld it from him for so long.

And he still hadn't been sure whether or not Naruto was completely ready to know everything. He had only just been told of the Kyuubi, Sarutobi just didn't know how this would change Naruto. Would he become resentful of the village and the Sandaime for his life, or would he simply give up.

Fortunately, Sarutobi's answer came in the form of a late night report courtesy of Iruka. The event had apparently changed Naruto. Now he seemed to be more focused than ever before, even more determined. The Sandaime hoped with all his heart that this was proof of Naruto's growing maturity, and that he was ready for what he had to tell him.

Sarutobi sighed. 'Good or bad, this will most definitely be an interesting day.'

Back with Naruto…

Naruto was surprised by how much attention his new outfit was drawing. Several of the villagers were throwing him curious glances. It was, of course, short lived. Once they recognized him their eyes became cold and they quickly went back to ignoring him. But there were an occasional few that whose eyes still held a bit of interest, even after they recognized him.

He didn't have time to reflect upon this as he felt one of his clones dispel itself after reading one of the shorter scrolls. It was the one on nature manipulation.

Naruto was very interested in this scroll. He learned the about some of the strengths and weaknesses of the elements. No one element was stronger than all others. Each was strong against a certain element and weak to another. Wind defuses lightning, lightning destroys earth, earth absorbs water, water quenches fire, and fire feeds on the wind. They were all balanced.

Again Naruto reminded himself to ask the Hokage for one of those chakra cards. He might not be able to start working on his element right away, but it would definitely be beneficial for him to know his which element he was aligned with. If anything, he could keep his eyes open for any jutsus for that particular element.

Again Naruto had to push these thoughts out of his head for now. There was enough on his plate as it was. If he keeps coming up with new things to train in he'd be pulled in so many directions he wouldn't accomplish anything. 'I just need to take things one at a time… Well, I guess with _Kage Bunshin_ I could do two,' he thought with a fox-like grin.

Once he reached the tower Naruto was made his way to the roof, where a photographer was taking I.D. pictures. Naruto remembered how he had considered doing something extreme for his photo, like painting himself up. But that was the old Naruto, the one who was more focused on getting attention than actually becoming a respectable ninja. So, when his turn came he just settled for a victory pose and with a big grin on his face.

Sarutobi looked at the photo before him. It wasn't the most serious pose Naruto could have taken, but it just wouldn't have been Naruto if he had. He had been pleasantly surprised by Naruto's change in attire. It was more fitting of a shinobi. Then he looked up to see said genin in a chair across from him. "Everything looks to be in order Naruto. You and the other genin will meet at the academy tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. There you will be assigned to your teams and a jounin instructor."

"Alright oji-san, as long as you don't put me on some teme's team, like Sasuke."

"Naruto, you know that the teams are made according to your performance and skills shown in the academy. The student with the lowest scores will be placed on the same team as the one with the highest," said Sarutobi in a very sage like manner.

Naruto sighed dejectedly. "Fine, but if starts in with any of that 'I'm superior to you just because of my name' crap again, I can't be held responsible for my actions."

Sarutobi chuckled lightly. "Duly noted Naruto. Now there is something else I'd like to discuss with you…" He didn't get any further when the door to the room opened.

"I've got you now old man, now I will be Hokage." Naruto looked over to see an eight year old boy wearing a long blue scarf and a helmet. He pulled out a shuriken and began to rush the Hokage. The kid didn't get very far before he tripped over his own scarf, falling flat on his face.

If Naruto hadn't been so utterly confused, he would have laughed his ass off. But as it was, he could only stare blankly at the small boy. He cast a glance at the Hokage to see if he was as confused as he was. Sarutobi merely sighed in exasperation, pinching the bridge of his nose. Naruto thought he heard him mutter, "This is the eighth time this week."

'Eighth, so this isn't the first time,' Naruto thought to himself. He shrugged it off and looked back to the boy, who was now making his way back to his feet. He looked dazed for a moment, then confused as to what just happened. He then looked over at Naruto and pointed an accusing finger at him.

"You, you're the one that tripped me when I came into the room, didn't you?"

Naruto's eyebrow twitched. "I didn't trip you, you little brat. It's not my fault you actually tripped over your own scarf."

"Yeah right, you just wanted to make me look bad," shouted the boy.

Naruto was getting tired of this. He stood from his seat and grabbed the kid by the scruff of his shirt. "Listen, you brat. Don't go blaming others just because you're a klutz."

Before Naruto could continue with his rant, the door to the room again opened. This time a man wearing a bandana and dark sunglasses with normal ninja garb came into the room. He took one look at Naruto and looked like he was going to have a heart-attack.

"Put down that boy this instant you brat! Don't you know he is the honorable grandson of Sandaime-sama," he yelled.

Naruto was surprised. He looked at the boy in his grip, then to the Hokage, trying to see a resemblance. Needless to say, he found none. The boy took his reaction as a fearful hesitation and smirked. "What's wrong, not gonna hit me, now that you know I'm the Hokage's grandson. Tsch, thought not."

Sarutobi winced. Anyone who knew Naruto knew to never insinuate he was a coward. That was just asking for trouble. 'Oh well, I guess this is a lesson Konohamaru will have to learn the hard way.

And learn it he did. "I don't care if he was your grandmother." And with that said, Naruto brought his fist down upon the boy's head, painfully reacquainting him with the floor. Konohamaru looked up at Naruto in fear and a bit of awe.

'He's different from the others,' thought Konohamaru.

Sarutobi cleared his throat to get the attention of those in the room. Once everyone returned their gaze to the old Hokage he spoke. "Now Konohamaru, as much as I enjoy these little visits, I would greatly appreciate not being interrupted during meetings. Besides, aren't you supposed to be studying with your tutor?" he asked, casting a glance at the other man. "I hope my grandson isn't too much for you to handle Ebisu."

Ebisu started to sweat lightly. "No, no Hokage-sama. Your grandson just got away from me for a moment."

Sarutobi merely waved him off. "Very well, just try to lessen the frequency of these… incidents." After receiving a nod and bow from Ebisu, Sarutobi turned back to Naruto. "Now Naruto, I believe we were having a conversation. Perhaps we should continue it in my office." Naruto simply nodded; still a little too confused to speak, and followed the Hokage out of the room.

Konohamaru watched them leave. 'He's having a private meeting with oji-san? He must be really strong. If I can get him to train me then I'll be Hokage in no time.' Konohamaru stood up and left the room, leaving a still dumbfounded Ebisu behind him.

Naruto sat across from the Hokage, waiting for this conversation to begin. When they had first entered the room, Sarutobi sealed the room and then proceeded to pull out a scroll and set it on the desk in front of him. What confused Naruto was Sarutobi's reaction to the scrolls presence. He seemed nervous and a bit apprehensive. 'What's with oji-san? Is he worried about what's in that scroll… or is he worried about how I'll react to it?'

Sarutobi noticed the worried look that was beginning to show on Naruto's face and decided not to delay any longer. "Naruto, the reason I asked you in here is very important. I have to ask you to not speak of what you learn here today to anyone other than myself. This information may be incredibly dangerous if it were to fall into the wrong hands, in and outside of the village."

Now Naruto was very nervous, but he nodded his head, urging the Sandaime to continue.

Sarutobi placed his hands in front of him, interlacing his fingers, trying to think of how to continue this. At length he finally spoke. "When you asked me why the Yondaime chose you to carry the Kyuubi, I wasn't entirely truthful with my answer." He saw Naruto was about to interrupt, so he cut him off. "The reason I lied was because the Yondaime asked me not to tell you until you were ready. At the time you had just learned of the Kyuubi, one of your sensei's had betrayed you, and you had just been in a battle for your life. I wasn't sure how you would take another shock, I wasn't even sure you wanted to be a ninja anymore after what had happened. But after the report I received from Iruka, I believe you are ready for what I have to tell you."

At first Naruto was angry that the Sandaime had lied to him. But when he heard it was because of an order from the Yondaime he was more curious than anything. What could be so important that the Yondaime himself would have it kept from him until he was ready to keep it secret? So he simply nodded to the Hokage, encouraging him to continue.

"Before we begin I want you to read this scroll," said Sarutobi, handing Naruto the scroll.

Naruto thought it was a strange request, but did as he was asked. He began to read the scroll but didn't get far when something very strange happened. Ink seemed to bleed into the scroll. Naruto lifted the scroll to see if he had somehow set it down in some spilled ink, but there was nothing there. He looked back at the scroll and saw that the ink was forming into a shape. It was a seal of some kind.

Looking back at the Sandaime, Naruto showed him the newly formed seal. Sarutobi just smiled. "Just as I suspected, a blood seal was placed on this scroll."

"Blood seal?" asked a confused Naruto.

"Yes, it is a special seal that can only be released by a certain person. The Yondaime didn't want just anyone to be able to read this scroll. This seal will only open to you. All you have to do is wipe some of your blood across it and it will release."

"Eh, okay." This was really shaping up to be a very strange day. Biting his thumb, Naruto spread some blood across the seal. There was a poof of smoke and Naruto found himself holding another scroll. He looked to the Sandaime for the okay and after receiving a nod opened the scroll.

_Dear Naruto_

_I don't know what you've been told yet, so I will tell you everything I can in this scroll. I am Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, and after tonight I will be dead. The Kyuubi no Kitsune is marching straight towards the village, its intent seems to lay waste to all in its path. I am going to perform a jutsu that will seal away the demon at the cost of my own life. But I cannot seal it into just anything. No inanimate object could possibly hold the Kyuubi's massive power, nor could any animal or tree. The only possible container is a human body, more specifically the body of a newborn baby. Only a newborn can adapt to the Kyuubi's chakra and survive. That is where you come in Naruto. I am truly sorry to say that I chose you to carry the Kyuubi. I know you must wonder why it was you who was chosen to carry this burden, an orphan with no family to take care of him. But I could not choose anyone else. How could I ask another parent to sacrifice their child, if I wasn't willing to do the same? That is why you were chosen Naruto because you are my son._

Naruto eyes widened at this line. 'It can't be, the Yondaime was… my father?' For a long time Naruto didn't read the scroll in front of him. He simply stared at the script, as if it was some kind of mistake and the writing was going to change before him. Eventually his ability to think came back to him and he continued.

_I know that this must come as a shock to you, but it is true. You are Namikaze Naruto, son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. Your mother was an incredible woman Naruto. She was stubborn, impulsive, and wasn't afraid to start a fight. But she was also caring, kind, and the most beautiful woman I had ever met. I'm sorry Naruto, but your mother passed away when she gave birth to you._

Naruto's eyes filled with tears at reading this. So he truly was alone. His mother had died giving birth to him. 'She's dead because of me.' Wiping away his tears he forced himself to keep reading.

_Now don't even think of blaming yourself for her death. With the Kyuubi attacking, the stress became too much for your mother and she went into premature labor. Your mother would never forgive you if you put her death on your conscious. Ever since she found out she was pregnant with you, you have been the center of her world. She would want you to be happy and be strong when she's gone._

_You might be wondering why no one seems to know about your famous dad or the fact that you carry my wife's maiden name. There's a simple answer for that. No one does know. Or a very, very few do know. Only a select few even knew I was married and even fewer knew of her pregnancy. In fact only Sarutobi knows that you are my son. We were going to announce our marriage and your birth right after you were born, but with the Kyuubi's attack we never got that chance._

_I kept my marriage to Kushina and her ensuing pregnancy a secret for her and your protection. I've made many powerful enemies during my time as a ninja and they would not hesitate to hurt the ones I love to get to me. You are both the most precious people I have in the world, and in one night I'm going to lose the both of you. _

_I'm so sorry Naruto, for forcing this burden on you. I asked that you be seen as a hero, but humans have always feared what they do not understand. I know that I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I had no other choice. And I knew that if anyone could handle it, it's you._

_I know that your life up till now must have been filled with great sadness and loneliness. Just know that even though we are not there, your mother and I will always love you, no matter what. Good bye my son._

_With all the love I possess,_

_Namikaze Minato_

Naruto failed to stem the tears that started to flow from his eyes. He had so many emotions running through him. Sadness, confusion, anger; his own father had sealed the most powerful demon in the world in him. But these feelings were slowly being subverted as he absorbed what he had just learned. Understanding, completeness, and above all, happiness began to fill him.

Ever since he was little he was always taunted. Taunted because he wasn't the best ninja, because he had no friends, but the taunts that hurt the most were those that had to do with his parents. People would say that his parents abandoned him because not even they wanted to be around him. And Naruto couldn't refute them. For all he knew his parents probably did abandon him. He had no evidence to prove otherwise. But now he did. This scroll proved irrefutably that his parents had loved him and had not abandoned him.

Naruto was so caught up in his emotions that he didn't notice the Sandaime rise from his seat or the seal at the bottom of the scroll. He jumped slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Sarutobi giving him a sad smile. Naruto returned it with his own small, teary smile.

For a long moment neither of them spoke. Finally Sarutobi decided to break the silence. "How are you feeling Naruto?"

Naruto wiped the lingering tears from his eyes and answered. "I don't know oji-san, this is a lot to take in."

"I understand Naruto, take as long as you need."

"Oji-san… do you think… that maybe you could tell me about them sometime? When you're not busy, of course."

Sarutobi smiled warmly at Naruto. "Of course Naruto, anytime you want."

"Thanks oji-san," Naruto said, a true smile spreading across his face.

"Think nothing of it Naruto," said Sarutobi as he walked back around his desk. "Now, since you know of your family, its time to discuss your inheritance." This got Naruto's attention quickly. "Before you get too excited, you won't be able to access it until you're sixteen, or when you become a chuunin, whichever comes first." Naruto deflated slightly at hearing this, but shook it off and continued to listen.

"Firstly, your father had saved a substantial sum of money during his career as a shinobi, which was placed in an account for you to access when the time comes. Unfortunately your family's home was destroyed in the Kyuubi's attack, but the land still remains. There are private training grounds located on said property, which you are free to use so long as you have written permission from me to use it on your person. This way no one should be too suspicious of you if they catch you training there. But it's doubtful that you'll be disturbed." At Naruto's questioning look Sarutobi elaborated on his estates location.

His land was located a few miles outside of the village. It wasn't a huge plot of land, but there was still plenty of room. A large clearing comprised most of the estate the center of which was where the Yondaime's house once stood, the ruins of which had been cleared away soon after its destruction. The clearing was surrounded by dense forest, any path that would have led to the land had overgrown since then. A small stream ran through the back of the property. It was lined by large rocks and boulders. The training field was located between the stream and where the house once stood. Any training equipment that was there had most likely become unusable in the absence of upkeep, but Sarutobi said he'd gladly have any equipment replaced.

From the Sandaime's description, Naruto thought the place sounded wonderful, and perfect for his needs. The training field he had used this morning probably wouldn't be vacant everyday, and he didn't want to always have to look for an empty one. His family's training field might have been a little out of the way, but it was definitely what he needed. 'I just wish I had gotten to grow up there,' he thought sadly.

"Well, now that that's taken care of is their anything else you'd like to discuss?"

"I don't think so… oh wait. You see, I've been kind of doing some extra training and I was wondering if you could help me out with some things," said Naruto hopefully.

"Of course Naruto, I'll help with what I can."

Naruto sighed in relief. "Okay, well, I was reading up on some jutsus when I came across nature manipulation. I was wondering if you had one of those chakra cards so I can figure out what nature type I am."

Sarutobi sat and thought for a moment. "Naruto, I don't think it would be wise to begin studying nature manipulation just yet. It takes years to master one's element, and that's with diligent training."

"Don't worry oji-san, I'm not about to just jump into that kind of training just yet, I just thought it could be useful to know what my affinity is. That way I know to keep my eyes open for those types of jutsus."

Sarutobi was surprised at Naruto's reasoning. It did make sense, knowing your elemental affinity was certainly a handy piece of information. But training in your element could be dangerous, especially fire and lightning. He would just have to explain the dangers of improper training.

"Very well Naruto." Reaching into his desk, Sarutobi extracted a thin sheet of paper. "All you have to do is channel your chakra into to the card and it will reveal what affinity you have. If you are an earth type, it will turn to dust, water and it will get wet. Lightning and the paper will crumble, fire it will burn, and if your affinity is wind it will split in half."

Nodding his understanding, Naruto accepted the card from the old man. Taking a moment to focus his chakra, he began to channel it into the card. The effects were immediate. Smiling broadly, Naruto put the chakra card on the desk, now split in half.

"Interesting," said Sarutobi with a thoughtful expression. "Wind is very well suited for offensive jutsus due to its slicing ability. But wind affinity is very rare in Konoha, although I do know of someone who could teach you."

"Really, who is it?" asked an eager Naruto.

"My son Asuma is also a wind type, although I would advise that you not seek him out until you are ready to begin your training. Now is there anything else I could help you with."

"Yeah, do you know where I can get some weights for strength and speed training?"

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at this. Naruto certainly was full of surprises today. "There's a small weapons shop on the other side of the village that's run by a friend of mine. You should be able to pick up a set of weights there. Here are the directions."

"Thanks oji-san. Well, I should get going now, after all how am I supposed to take your job if I'm just standing around talking to you." With that Naruto picked up the scroll from his father and rolled it back up. Once it was rolled up the seal reformed so it couldn't be opened by anyone but Naruto. Naruto raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off. He stood and started to leave the room. When he reached the door Naruto turned back towards the Sandaime. "Really Sarutobi-sama, thank you… for everything." He then opened the door and left.

Sarutobi was stunned for a moment. He had never heard Naruto address him in a respectful manner. Shaking himself out of his shock, Sarutobi smiled. 'Minato, Kushina. You would be so proud of the boy your son is… and the man he will become.'

* * *

AN: So far I'm keeping up with my weekly updates. Just to let you know that because of my work schedule I probably won't be updating the same day every week. I appreciate the reviews, so please keep them coming. 


	4. New Friends, New Teammates

AN: I made a slight alteration to the end of the last chapter. Nothing major, but just thought you should know.

"Speech"

'Thought'

_Jutsu/Scroll_

**"Demon/Summons Speech"**

* * *

Chapter 4: New Friends, New Teammates 

Naruto awoke feeling groggy, but not nearly as much as the day before. Pulling himself out of bed Naruto began his morning routine. He went to the bathroom to freshen up, and then came back out to eat a quick breakfast. After a quick shopping spree, Naruto now had a bit more to eat for breakfast than ramen. After an actually balanced breakfast, Naruto put on his training clothes and his new weights. He only put ten pounds on each limb; he rather liked not having his shoulders torn out of their sockets whenever he threw a punch. He'd just have to gradually increase his weights.

Naruto looked down on at the bands that now adorned his wrists and ankles. He had found the shop fairly easily yesterday after leaving the Hokage Tower. It was a small shop that definitely didn't look like it catered to shinobi. Maybe that's why Naruto had never noticed it before. The shop was run by an old man, with graying brown hair and a prosthetic leg, named Kaito. Kaito was a retired shinobi who opened his shop shortly after losing his leg in the war with Iwagakure.

When Naruto entered the shop, the old man seemed to have been expecting him, as he already had the weight bands on the counter. Kaito explained that Sarutobi had sent word that he'd be coming to look for some training weights. He then showed the bands to Naruto.

Each band had ten pouches to hold weights in, and each of these pouches had a seal on it. Kaito explained that the seals were used to increase the weight of whatever was placed inside by ten fold. So if you put a one pound weight in the band, it would become ten pounds. The bands were made of a very durable material that could hold a total of five hundred pounds each. Once you exceeded that weight the bands would most likely tear, and the seals would immediately cease working.

Kaito also went on to show Naruto his selection of kunai and shuriken once he noticed Naruto's current set. When he found out how old they were the old man was appalled. So now Naruto was the proud owner of new training weights and a brand new kunai and shuriken set. The fact that it all cost a fraction of what he'd normally pay was just icing on the cake.

Naruto soon left his apartment, with ten pounds strapped to each limb. Walking around with weights on was definitely going to take some getting used to. He walked to the village gates as he did yesterday, but instead of turning to do laps around the village, he began to head towards his family's estate. Naruto planned to do his morning workout there from now on, as well as practicing any particularly powerful or forbidden jutsus.

As he began his run Naruto recounted what happened after his visit to Kaito's shop. If he thought finding out about his family and discovering a new place to get supplies was enough for one day, he was sorely mistaken.

_Flashback_

Naruto had just left Kaito's shop, he was heading for his apartment to replace his weapons and put on his weights. However, he was interrupted when he noticed he was being followed. It wasn't difficult to figure out. Whoever was following him wasn't exactly a pro. It took him a moment, but he eventually recognized his pursuer as the kid from the Hokage Tower. 'What was his name again? Oh yeah, Konohamaru.'

Naruto tried to ignore Konohamaru for a while, but his stalking methods were pitiful. He decided to put an end to this little game as he walked passed a section of horizontal fencing, so the kid would stop from further embarrassing himself.

"All right, come out now. Your disguise is pathetic, even an academy student could see through it."

Soon the horizontal planking lowered to reveal a sheepish looking Konohamaru. "Hehe, I guess I should have known I couldn't fool an awesome ninja like you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at this. "Oookay. So why are you following me?"

Konohamaru grinned broadly as he answered. "I want you to train me."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "WHAT?! Why do you want me to train you? Don't you already have a teacher?"

The boy's face dropped a little. "Yeah, but he's always going on about he's my best chance at becoming Hokage." His face brightened when he looked up at Naruto. "But I know you could teach me way more than he ever could. I heard that you were able to get past oji-san. So you've got to be really strong."

Naruto started to sweat a little. How do you explain to a kid that you only beat his grandpa because of a perverted jutsu? "Nah, I just caught the old man by surprise. Any other time and I would have been toast," Naruto hastily explained. He really didn't feel like having this little kid hounding him wherever he went. Unfortunately Konohamaru wouldn't be deterred so easily.

"But I heard a good shinobi knows when to attack and exploit an opponent's weakness. So you must be even better than I thought."

Naruto sweat-dropped. 'Stupid brat, making stupid good points.' He shook his head then looked down at Konohamaru. "But why do you want extra training anyway?"

Konohamaru's face took on a look of determination. "I want to become strongest ninja in the village, so that one day I'll become Hokage."

This statement struck a chord in Naruto. 'So he wants to be Hokage too, huh. Well, let's see if he's got what it takes.' Naruto took a thoughtful pose. "Alright Konohamaru, I'll train you." Konohamaru was about to start celebrating, but Naruto interrupted him. "But… you'll have to do exactly as I say, and no complaining, you got that." Konohamaru nodded eagerly, and Naruto began to lead him to a nearby training field.

Konohamaru was hopping on his toes, excitement pouring off of him. "So what are you gonna teach me first boss? Some super powerful jutsu, or some awesome kunai throwing technique. Oh I know, how about a genjutsu that makes someone think he's a chicken."

Naruto tried not to laugh at that last one. But he started thinking of what he was going to teach the kid. He briefly entertained the idea of teaching him _Oiroke no Jutsu_. The look on the Sandaime's face when he found out Naruto had taught his grandson a perverted jutsu like that would be priceless. But he thought better of it. It would only handicap Konohamaru to distract him a technique he'd only made up as a joke. 'No, I need to teach him something that would really be useful to him. I can't teach him _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_, it would kill him. So what can I teach him that he won't learn in the academy?' Then it hit him.

Once they entered the training field Naruto walked up to a decent sized tree. "Alright Konohamaru, I am going to teach you…" he paused for dramatic affect, with Konohamaru leaning forward eagerly, "to climb trees." Konohamaru promptly fell on his face.

Jumping back up to his feet he looked at Naruto angrily. "How is climbing a tree going to make me a better ninja?" he yelled.

Naruto smirked. "You didn't let me finish. What I was going to say was I'm going to teach you to climb trees… without your hands." At Konohamaru's confused face, Naruto decided a demonstration was in order. Forming a ram seal, he said, "Watch closely." Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he began to walk up the side of the tree.

Konohamaru was now salivating. "Wow boss, that's awesome."

Naruto just smiled at the boy. "Sure is Konohamaru. This is a chakra control exercise. If you master this, every jutsu you perform will become less taxing. Meaning you can perform more jutsus without getting tired, and your jutsus become more affective."

Naruto began to describe how to perform the technique and Konohamaru a single kunai. With that he set the boy to work. While Konohamaru was running up the tree, Naruto kept himself busy perfecting _Kage Bunshin_.

Several hours later…

Naruto walked into the clearing where he had left Konohamaru and a clone in order to go get some sodas. He looked to where Konohamaru was practicing and saw the boy doubled over, panting heavily. Once his clone saw him it dispelled itself, revealing its observations for the past ten minutes on the boy's progress. Naruto was very impressed.

Konohamaru had managed to get nearly ten feet during his training. 'That's further than I got during the same amount of time, and he's had to take breaks to rest up. Of course, he doesn't have the chakra stores I have either.'

Naruto had also made great progress during this time. It had taken him some time, but he had managed to gain a good degree of accuracy when creating his clones. He started off simply creating clones directly in front of, behind, or to the side of himself. Eventually he began to stretch the distance between himself and his clones. After that he began to experiment with the latitude of the clones. He noticed that the further away he created his clones, the more concentration he needed to ensure their accuracy. Currently Naruto could create a clone accurately ten feet away from him with minimal concentration. He was hoping to increase the distance with more training.

Looking down on the exhausted boy, Naruto called out to him. "Hey Konohamaru, take a break, you've earned." He invited the boy to sit next to him on a log, handing him a soda as he did.

"Thanks boss," said Konohamaru.

They sat in peaceful silence for a moment. Naruto decided to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while. "Hey Konohamaru, why are you so set on becoming Hokage?"

Konohamaru's eyes became slightly downcast. "My grandfather named me Konohamaru, after the village. But the thing is, no one knows sees me as Konohamaru. To them I'm just the Sandaime's grandson. That's why I want to become Hokage. Then people will recognize me for me, and not who I'm related to. And training with you is the best shortcut to becoming Hokage."

Naruto looked at Konohamaru for a moment. 'He's just like how I was. He wants to be recognized for whom he is, and not for something he has no control over.'

"You're wrong you know," Naruto said at length. Konohamaru looked up at him with a questioning gaze. "There are no shortcuts to becoming Hokage. You have to work at it, sacrifice your blood, sweat and tears. But that's not all. You also have to be willing to give your very life for the protection of the village. Someone doesn't become Hokage for themselves, but for the village."

Konohamaru just sat there, stunned by Naruto's words. 'Is respect the only reason I want to become Hokage. Am I that selfish?' He was distracted from his musings by the arrival of his teacher, Ebisu. He landed on a low hanging branch of a nearby tree.

"Finally, I've found you. Come along honorable grandson, your time would be much better spent training under me than this trash," he said, looking down his nose at Naruto.

Naruto glared at the man, but didn't say anything. Konohamaru, however, was not so passive. "Shut up, I'm not going anywhere with you. And don't talk to Naruto nii-san like that." With that Konohamaru charged the tree Ebisu was on.

Ebisu merely sighed to himself. He knew Konohamaru didn't have the strength or agility to jump to the height he was. So imagine his surprise when Konohamaru started to run up the side of the tree. The boy didn't quite make it to the branch Ebisu was on before losing control, but it was impressive nonetheless. Ebisu was so shocked; he didn't notice the clone that appeared behind him.

With a well delivered punch, Ebisu now lay unconscious on the ground with Naruto grinning widely nearby. Konohamaru looked at the blonde genin in awe. Naruto turned to his young friend.

"Remember Konohamaru, the road to Hokage his long and difficult. You have to train harder than anyone to obtain the skills for becoming Hokage. And once you've done that, you still have to face me," Naruto said with a fox-like grin.

Konohamaru was silent for a moment before he looked up at Naruto, a look of determination in his eyes. "Alright Naruto, from now on I'm no longer your student, but your rival. And one day I'll fight we'll face each other to see who becomes the Hokage."

Naruto smiled widely at the boy. "I'll look forward to that day Konohamaru, I really will." The boys shook hands and went to Ichiraku's for dinner.

_Flashback ends_

Naruto was pulled from his reminiscing when he finally reached his destination. Taking a moment to catch his breath from the run, Naruto looked up to observe his new surroundings. It was just as Sarutobi described it and then some. The clearing was quiet and peaceful, the grass kept short by grazing forest animals. He could hear the running water of the stream nearby along with the sounds of the forest and its inhabitants. Naruto took it all in and felt his body and mind begin to relax. He might have never been here, but to him it felt more like home than his own apartment.

Naruto shook himself out his stupor and proceeded with his workout. Using weights during his workout was incredibly taxing on Naruto's body. By the time he was finished Naruto had trouble standing, let alone moving. 'My body feels sore in places I didn't know could feel sore. This is definitely going to take some getting used to.'

Naruto groaned as he made his way to his feet. His body might protest it, but he did have other things he had to do today. So Naruto left the clearing and began to jog back to the village.

Once Naruto made it to his apartment he stripped off his sweat soaked clones and his weights and jumped into the shower. The hot water did wonders for his aching muscles. After he was finished with his shower, he dressed in his now regular wardrobe and replaced his weights. Making sure he had everything, Naruto left to make his way to the academy. He halted just inside his doorway.

The clones he had created yesterday had finished with the scrolls and books from the library, so there was really no reason to keep them around. So Naruto created a new group of clones to take the scrolls back to the library. And while Naruto received his team assignments he was going to have his clones search for anything else that could be useful in the library. Naruto was determined to make use of every second of the day.

So with the clones made and on their way to the library, Naruto left for the academy.

* * *

Hyuuga Hinata wasn't having a very good week. Sure she had passed the genin exam, but the one other person she wanted to pass didn't. It broke her heart to see him sit dejectedly on the swing in front of the academy. She just wanted to go and comfort him, but her damnable shyness kept her from doing so. She had planned on leaving him a note or two like she normally did when she saw him like this, but there were so many things that kept her from even doing that. 

After the exams Hinata had tried to find Naruto to give him a note, but couldn't find him anywhere. Then there was some sort of alarm and she was forced to return home. The next day her father had set up a training schedule for her that kept her busy for most of the day with hard training. When she was finished she couldn't find Naruto once again. She thought she saw him going into the Hokage Tower yesterday, but couldn't find out where he went after that.

Hinata was becoming increasingly anxious, but didn't feel comfortable leaving a note at his apartment. She wanted to make sure Naruto found the note and couldn't risk someone else finding it. So Hinata made her way into the academy one last time and sat in her usual seat in the back row, depressed. She was certain that she would never see the hyperactive blonde again.

'Stupid Hinata. Why couldn't you have just talked to him while he was here? Now it's too late, now I'll never be able to tell him how I fee…' Her thought process came to a halt when she saw a patch of very familiar blonde hair walk through the classroom door.

Naruto walked into the classroom and looked around for a place to sit. His legs were still very sore from his workout, so he automatically crossed any seats in the upper rows off the list. Unfortunately, that only left one of two seats, both of which were located next to a brooding Uchiha. 'Figures.'

Naruto swallowed his pride and moved to the seat along the aisle, leaving a chair between himself and Sasuke. The Uchiha didn't even acknowledge Naruto's presence, but Naruto wasn't complaining. In fact no one seemed to have noticed that Naruto was there even though he seemingly failed. That is, until Shikamaru saw him while he was walking to his own seat.

"Hey Naruto, what are you doing here? This is only for people who actually passed the exam," said Shikamaru in a bored tone.

Instead of audibly replying, Naruto simply tapped his forehead protector with his finger. Shikamaru just sighed and mumbled something that sounded like "troublesome." Naruto smiled at this, and even decided to take a page from the lazy Nara's book. He laid his head on the desk in front of him and closed his eyes to rest up from his workout.

He hadn't been napping more that a minute or two when he was rudely awakened by the loud screeches of two bright haired banshees. Sitting up in his seat Naruto looked over at the doorway to see the said banshees shove their way into the room. Focusing on the pink haired girl, Naruto felt his heart leap into his chest. Or at least, that's what he thought he should feel.

The truth was, he didn't know what he felt for the Haruno girl anymore. He truly did see his life flash before his eyes when he faced Mizuki that night. And for the life of him, Naruto couldn't remember a single moment that Sakura had shown him any kindness. Naruto was trying to figure out what it was that what drew him to her in the first place. After a moment of thinking it hit him. Attention.

Naruto was always starved for attention. The main reason he pulled pranks was to get reactions out of people, to get them to notice him. And he always got a response out of Sakura. Granted, it was never a positive response, but a response nonetheless.

'I didn't like her because of her, but because of the attention she gave me. Maybe there just isn't a girl out there for someone like me,' he thought looking down sadly. He then shook his head sharply. 'No, I refuse to think like that. I don't know where she is, but there is a girl for me. And I don't care how long it takes; I will find her some day.' Naruto thought he heard a soft sneeze from the back of the room, but when he turned around, all he saw was a head of indigo hair duck down behind a desk. 'Weird,' Naruto thought.

He was pulled from his thoughts by a red and pink figure standing next to him. Looking up Naruto could see Sakura staring hard at him. "Move Naruto, I'm sitting next to Sasuke-kun."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Sakura-chan, you do realize that there's an empty seat right here, don't you," Naruto said pointing to the chair beside him. Sakura had the decency to blush, but shook it off quickly.

"Shut up Naruto, what would you know? You shouldn't even be here, you failed the exam remember."

"Well, uh, I took an extra credit test, and Iruka-sensei passed me," said Naruto, thankful he had thought up a plausible story.

"Whatever, Naruto no baka. Just get out of my way so I can sit next to Sasuke-kun." Without waiting for him to reply Sakura simply shoved her way passed Naruto. Naruto shrugged it off, used to such treatment and simply leaned back to rest his eyes. Iruka-sensei entered shortly after to give his farewell speech to the genin. Naruto was vaguely paying attention; he just wanted to know what team he was on.

He straightened up in his seat when teams began to be called out.

"Team 7 will consist of; Uzumaki Nauto…" Naruto perked up at hearing his name, "Haruno Sakura…"

'Sakura's team. Maybe she'll lighten up now that we're on the same team.' Looking over at his teammate, he saw she had a look that promised extreme pain directed at him. 'Then again… I have been wrong before.'

"Uchiha Sasuke."

There was an audible groan and a head hitting a desk, but it was soon drowned out by the thrilled squeal of a fan girl.

"Is there a problem Naruto," asked Iruka, looking amusingly at his favorite student.

"If I say yes, will you put me on a different team?" asked Naruto, still face down.

"No," Iruka responded flatly.

"Then no problems here, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka shook his head at Naruto's antics. "Moving on… you're jounin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi. Team 8 will consist of; Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba. Your jounin sensei will be Yuuhi Kurenai. Team 9 is still in circulation from last year. Team 10 will include Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, and Yamanaka Ino, and you will be taught by Sarutobi Asuma."

With all of the teams assigned, Iruka wished all of his former students good luck. Shortly afterwards jounin sensei began to arrive to collect their teams. 'I wonder what our sensei will be like,' Naruto wondered to himself.

3 hours later…

"Where (WHACK) the hell (WHACK) is he?" (WHACK) asked Naruto, while repeatedly slamming his head into his desk. Sakura and Sasuke were wondering the same thing, although they were expressing their annoyance in much less violent means. Meaning Sakura was busy fawning over Sasuke, who was just sitting there brooding.

"Knock it off Naruto. Can't you see that you're annoying Sasuke-kun." This only added to Naruto's sour mood.

'Oh well, at least I dropped some clones off at the library, so this time isn't being completely wasted.' Naruto stood up from his seat to find some way to relieve his boredom. He then spotted the chalkboard eraser. 'I know its lame, but I gotta do something.' Picking up the eraser he walked to the doorway and wedged the eraser between the frame and the door.

"Stupid dobe, he's a jounin, an elite ninja. He's not gonna fall for some stupid prank like that," said Sasuke with a sneer.

"Yeah Naruto, why don't you use your head for once," harped the fan girl.

Naruto was about to retort, but stopped when he heard approaching footsteps. 'Well it's about time,' thought Naruto. He walked to his seat without saying a word, and watched the door intently. Confused by his behavior his teammates looked to the door as well.

After a moment the door slid open and a silver head of hair popped through the crack. "Yo…" he started, but was cut off when the eraser landed directly on his head. The room was completely silent, the assembled genin stunned at the fact that it actually worked. Naruto fought valiantly to keep a straight face, but the looks on his teammates faces was just too much. First a smile cracked across his face, and then a snort escaped his lips. Soon he fell out of his chair, laughing his ass off.

"Ha ha ha, I can't believe you actually fell for that."

'This guy's supposed to be a jounin, and can't avoid a simple prank,' Sasuke thought to himself.

Sakura, ever the bookworm, immediately began to apologize for Naruto's antics. "I'm sorry sensei, Naruto's an idiot, and thought it would be funny."

Kakashi didn't show any indication that he was listening to what she said. He merely patted the chalk dust out of his hair and looked at the three genin. "Hmm… my first impression of you is… I don't like you very much. Meet me up on the roof in five minutes." With that, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

After taking a moment to grumble about stupid late senseis with no sense of humor, Naruto stood up and made his way to the roof. His two teammates followed shortly after. Once they made it to the roof they each took a seat across from their lazy sensei, who was currently reading from an orange book.

Kakashi snapped his book closed and looked at his genin. "Well, now that we're all here, why don't you tell me something about yourselves?"

"Um, like what Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura.

"You know, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future, those kinds of things," Kakashi responded lazily.

"Why don't you go first Kakashi-sensei, just to show us?"

"Alright. I'm Hatake Kakashi, I don't feel like telling you about my likes or dislikes. Dreams for the future… Well I have lots of hobbies."

The three genin all had the same thought. 'All he told us was his name.'

"Okay, now it's your turns. Umm, how about you, pinkie," he said pointing to Sakura.

Sakura bristled at the nickname, but gave him his answer. "I'm Haruno Sakura. I like," she looked at Sasuke and let out a squeal, "I dislike Naruto baka and Ino pig. My hobbies and dream for the future…" she looked at Sasuke and let out another squeal.

'Oh goody, a fan girl, just what I need,' thought Kakashi as his shoulders sagged slightly.

"Right, now you, Mr. Sunshine," he said pointing to Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't react to his nickname, instead just crossing his fingers in front of his face. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke," he said, making sure he put an emphasis on the Uchiha. "I don't like many things; I dislike a lot of things. I don't have time for hobbies. I don't have a dream, it's more of an ambition, to kill a certain man," he finished darkly.

Sakura just stared at him dreamily. 'He's so cool.'

'I figured as much, hopefully I can break him out of that state of mind,' thought Kakashi.

"Your up blondie," his gaze finally resting on Naruto.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen and training; I dislike people who treat others badly and those who judge people without knowing them. My hobbies are training and trying different kinds of ramen. And my dream for the future is to become Hokage so I can protect everyone precious to me."

Kakashi took a moment to study his possible subordinates. 'From her test scores, Sakura's obviously the smartest of the group, but physically and chakra capacity wise she's by far the weakest. If she doesn't start taking training seriously she'll never make it as a shinobi.

'Sasuke has a lot of potential, especially after he activates his sharingan. But his focus on revenge could be a problem. I'm sure I can break him out of that mindset. Even if they don't pass the test tomorrow I'll probably take him as an apprentice, if only to pay back Obito.'

'And finally, Naruto.' Kakashi had never held any animosity towards the boy for what he carried. He had far too much faith in his former sensei to question his ability to seal the demon. But that doesn't mean that he ever took any special interest in him either. 'Naruto was dead last in his class, and only just managed to graduate by learning _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_. All he seems to have going for him is his large chakra reserve. Although he does seem to have the right state of mind.'

"Okay, now that that's out of the way, tomorrow we start our duties, and we'll begin with survival training."

"But Kakashi-sensei, we've already done survival training," stated a confused Sakura.

Kakashi's eye curved upward as he smiled. "Yes, but not like this you haven't." He then started to chuckle ominously.

"W-why is that Kakashi-sensei?" asked a now nervous Sakura.

"Because this training has a 66 percent failure rating, and those who fail are sent back to the academy."

All three genin blanched at this. Naruto growled quietly. 'I can't go back to the academy, I've worked too hard to get here and I'm not going to let it all go to waste now.'

"Meet me at training field seven tomorrow morning at 6:00 am. Oh, and don't eat any breakfast. If you do you'll throw up. Ja ne." And with a wave he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The three teammates were stunned for a moment, but soon shook it off. As they began to rise Naruto took a look at his teammates. 'Well, if we're gonna be on the same team, I might as well make an effort.' "So, uh, do you guys want to go get something to eat to get to know each other better?"

"No way Naruto, like I'd ever go out with a loser like you," yelled Sakura, apparently missing that Sasuke was invited as well. She turned to the Uchiha. "Hey Sasuke-kun, do you want to get something to eat so we can get to know each other better?"

"No," Sasuke said simply, and walked away.

Sakura was dejected for a moment but quickly shook it off to pursue the Uchiha. "Sasuke-kun, wait."

Naruto shook his head at the departing pair. He was becoming increasingly annoyed with the behavior of both of his teammates. 'Forget them; I've still got plenty of time to train.' At that moment his stomach gave a growl. 'Okay, ramen first.'

Ichiraku Ramen…

It had only taken Naruto a few minutes to reach his favorite ramen stand. Immediately upon entering the small restaurant, Naruto ordered up a bowl of miso ramen.

"Naruto, I haven't seen you in here very often the past couple of days. I thought for sure that it was a sign of the apocalypse," Teuchi said with a big smile.

Naruto just smiled in return. "Hehe, sorry Teuchi, I've been really busy with training lately, and didn't really find the time to visit."

"So, what have you been up to Naruto-kun," asked Ayame as she walked up from the back.

"Just some training mostly, although today I received my team assignments. I got stuck with the Uchiha and Haruno Sakura," Naruto said glumly.

"Tough break kid," said Teuchi.

"Wait, I thought you liked Sakura. So why don't you sound too happy to be on her team?" asked Ayame.

"Well, I guess I just kind of grew out of that phase. I realized she's just a Sasuke fan girl who cares more about romance than training. She's just not the girl for me I guess."

"That's okay Naruto, I'm sure you'll find a girl out there for you," said Ayame, giving Naruto a warm smile.

"Thanks Ayame nee-chan," said Naruto, not really realizing the added suffix.

Ayame froze slightly at hearing this, and then her smile grew even wider. If there weren't a counter separating them, she would have no doubt enveloped him in a bone-crushing hug.

Naruto decided to continue the discussion of his team. "My jounin-sensei is Hatake Kakashi. The bastard showed up three hours late today."

Teuchi placed his ramen in front of him, and then struck a thoughtful pose. "Hatake Kakashi, I've heard of him. Apparently, unless it's a mission, he's always at least a couple hours late to anything." WHACK. He turned to see Naruto with his head resting firmly on the countertop, murmuring something about 'no good lazy-ass jounin.' Sitting back up, he went back to eating his ramen.

Naruto drank the rest of his ramen broth and set his bowl down and paid his bill. "Well, it's been fun chatting with you, but I've got some training to do. See ya later," he said while waving goodbye.

Naruto immediately began to head towards his family's training ground to finally work on the second technique he learned from the forbidden scroll.

* * *

Hyuuga Hinata was currently walking through the forest not far from the Hyuuga manor. She often did this, either to clear her head, or to collect herbs and plants for her healing balms. Today she was doing it for second reason. Kurenai had told them that they would have a special test tomorrow and she wanted to restock her supply of medicinal herbs, just in case. 

Hinata had been disappointed when she wasn't placed on the same team as Naruto, but her teammates were okay. She thought Kiba was a little too loud and arrogant, and Shino, well, he was Shino. Shino was the polar opposite of Kiba; silent and observant. She had known Kurenai from when she used to serve as her chaperone when she was younger. So, all things considered, she liked her team.

The Hyuuga heiress was brought out of her thoughts when she heard noise coming from a nearby training field. This confused her. She often passed by this field while she was searching for herbs, and had asked her father why no one seemed to ever use it. He had said that it had once belonged to the Yondaime, and had not been used since his death since it was now off limits. Curiosity getting the better of her, Hinata approached the clearing to see just who would be training there.

* * *

Naruto leapt into the clearing and pulled out the scroll with the copied instructions. _Shuriken/Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ held the same concept behind _Kage Bunshin_ except it was being extended to an object rather than himself. Reading through the hand signs and how to properly gather the needed chakra, Naruto prepared to try the jutsu. He pulled out a kunai and threw it at a nearby tree. But by the time he had finished the proper hand seals, the kunai had just been imbedded into the tree. 'Hmm, I'm going to have to work on my seal speed if I want to master this jutsu.' 

While Naruto was going to work on his hand speed, he created a few dozen Narutos to work on chakra control. Each clone ran to a tree and grabbed a leaf to repeat the exercise he had done a few days before. Naruto silently cursed himself for not asking the old man for another chakra control exercise when he had the chance, but this would do.

For the next hour Naruto worked not only on the hand seals for _Kunai Kage Bunshin_, but all of the hand seals, running through them in different order. When he felt he had gained sufficient speed he tried the jutsu again. This time he was able to finish the jutsu before the kunai reached its target, along with ten newly formed kunai. Naruto smiled at the results. 'I wonder just how many kunai I can make.' For another hour Naruto steadily increased the amount of kunais he could make with each throw. On his last throw he was able to create several dozen kunai that showered not only the tree he was aiming at, but also those surrounding it. 'Well, I guess I won't have to worry about missing.'

Naruto was brought out of his musings by an incoming memory from a nearby clone. Apparently the clone had spotted someone spying on him in the forest. Who it was, he couldn't be certain. Naruto performed _Kawarimi no Jutsu _with one of his clones, so he could sneak up on this intruder unnoticed.

Hinata was stunned by the sight before her. Dozens of Narutos were racing up the trees surrounding the clearing, each with a leaf on their forehead. What further amazed her was the jutsu that the real Naruto had just performed. She was so stunned that she hadn't noticed the clone that had spotted her, nor did she notice Naruto perform a substitution.

Hinata was also arguing with herself about what to do now. She knew the training field was off limits, but she doubted Naruto knew that. She didn't want him to get in trouble, but she just couldn't bring herself to walk out there and tell him that.

"Uh, Hinata, what are you doing?" asked a confused voice from behind her.

Hinata froze. She knew whose voice that was. Slowly, she turned around to face the one who caught her. She was greeted by the sight of Naruto with a confused expression, head slightly tilted to the side, which Hinata found adorable. Blushing horribly, Hinata tried to stutter out a reply.

Naruto saw her face go red and that she was having trouble speaking. "Ne, Hinata, are you feeling alright. You look like you might have a fever." Without giving it a second thought he placed his hand on her forehead to check her temperature. This was too much for Hinata, who promptly fainted. Naruto was quick to catch her before she hit the ground.

"Hinata, Hinata!?" Naruto was starting to panic a little. 'Crap, what the hell happened, why'd she faint like that? What do I do?' He then began to list his options. 'I can't take her home, because I have no idea where she lives. And I can't really walk into the village with an unconscious girl in my arms. The villagers will probably accuse me of attacking and trying to kidnap her. Damn it. I guess there isn't really anything to do but wait till she wakes up.'

Naruto walked back into the clearing carrying Hinata bridal style. He gently sat her down against a tree near the stream on the property. As he set her down, though, something unexpected happened. She snuggled up against him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "N-hmmhm," she mumbled into his chest, but he couldn't make it out. Now he was in trouble. In a panic Naruto quickly performed _Kawarimi_ with a nearby clone. The clone looked up at his creator with a look of one who was just thrown to the lions. Throwing an apologetic look to the clone, Naruto went back to training until she woke up.

Ten minutes later, Naruto received the memory of the clone with Hinata. It had dispelled itself when she began to come to. Collecting his kunai, Naruto made his way back to the girl as she came to.

Hinata woke up groggily, confused as to why she was resting up against a tree in some strange clearing. Before she could further question her situation a voice grabbed her attention

"Hey Hinata, how are you feeling? You gave me quite a scare back there."

Instantly Hinata was wide awake, remembering the events that had happened moments before. She looked up at Naruto with wide eyes.

'Her eyes have a shade of lavender in them…' Naruto thought, but quickly shook his head. 'Where did that come from?'

"I-I'm sorry, N-Naruto-kun. I didn't m-mean to bother you," Hinata said in a quiet voice.

"No, no. I was just worried about you, that's all," he said with a comforting smile. Silence fell between the two for a moment, before Naruto decided to break it. "So… what were you doing out in the forest Hinata, this isn't exactly a spot a lot of people come to."

Hinata blushed and started to poke her fingers. "Ano… m-my home is only a few miles away from here. I-I often walk around the forest to collect herbs and p-plants for healing balms. T-then I heard you training and decided to s-see who was here." She was surprised by just how much she was able to get out in Naruto's presence.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," said Naruto with a thoughtful expression.

"Ano, N-Naruto-kun, what are you doing here? I heard that this t-training field wasn't allowed to be used anymore. Y-you could get in trouble."

Naruto just grinned as he pulled a piece of paper from his side pack. "Don't worry Hinata, Hokage oji-san gave me permission to train here."

Silence fell between them again before Hinata thought of something to ask. "N-Naruto-kun, what are those?" she asked, pointing to where his bunshins were still training.

"Huh, oh, those are my _kage bunshins_," he said with a grin.

"_Kage bunshin_," said in confusion and awe. She had heard of _Kage Bunshin_ _no Jutsu_ in her studies and from other ninja. But it was supposed to be a dangerous jounin technique. Unable to hold her curiosity, she asked, "How do you know _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, that's kind of an interesting story. It all started after the Genin Exam…" Naruto proceeded to recount the events of that night, careful to censor any parts about the Kyuubi. "… then me and Iruka-sensei went out for ramen at Ichiraku's."

Hinata was stunned. Not only had Naruto learned a jounin level technique in the span of a few hours, he had also defeated the chuunin traitor Mizuki to save Iruka's life. "N-Naruto-kun, that's amazing!" she said with a little more force than was normal for her.

Naruto blushed slightly. "Hehe, thanks Hinata. But the really cool part about _Kage Bunshin_ is that I learn whatever the clones learn. That's why I have those clones working on chakra control. Once I dispel them, I'll be better able to control my chakra. Although I wish I knew a better control exercise besides tree walking."

Hinata saw an opportunity present itself with this statement. "Ano, Naruto-kun, the Hyuuga have to learn chakra control exercises at a fairly young age. I-If you'd like, I-I could teach you one." She held her breath for his response.

"Really, Hinata that would be awesome!" he yelled excitedly. "How about tomorrow after… wait, do you have to take a test with your team tomorrow like mine?"

"Yes, m-my teammates and I have to do a training exercise so our sensei can gauge our abilities."

"What's your team like Hinata?" Naruto asked, going off on a tangent.

"A-Ano, my team is nice," she said nervously, not used to having so much attention given to her. "K-Kiba-kun can be very loud and o-overconfident, but seems very d-determined. S-Shino-kun, on the other hand is very quiet. He only spoke w-when he was asked something, a-and even then it was very b-brief. K-Kurenai-sensei is very kind, but strict as well. She u-used to chaperone for m-me when I was y-younger."

"You got lucky then. I got stuck on the same team as Sasuke-teme. The whole time I was with him he didn't say anything that wasn't an insult. It's like he thinks me and Sakura are beneath him." Hinata perked up slightly at the missing suffix on Sakura's name. "And Sakura's starting to get on my nerves too. She spent the entire time there fawning over Sasuke, like he was kami himself. Then there's Kakashi-sensei. That bastard showed up three hours late to meet his own genin team. I swear, this team is going to drive me nuts," Naruto yelled while pulling his hair.

Hinata couldn't stifle the giggle that escaped her lips at Naruto's rant. Her hand flew to her mouth and she blushed heavily. Naruto heard her and smiled sheepishly at her. "Sorry Hinata, I'm sure you don't want to here me complain about my teammates." Hinata gave her own small smile in response.

"Okay, back to tomorrow. After the team tests, how about we meet back here at 2:00 p.m. Then you can tell me how it went with your team and teach me that exercise. That sound good to you?"

"H-hai, Naruto-kun," said Hinata, who was beaming on the inside at the chance to spend more time with Naruto.

Naruto looked up at the sun and realized the afternoon was passing away. "Well Hinata, I gotta go finish my training and I'm sure you have better things to do than watch me train." Hinata nodded shyly, but truthfully, she would have gladly spent the entire day watching him train.

After exchanging farewells, Hinata left for home, and Naruto stayed in the training field. He decided to do some more workouts, so he began doing laps around the training field. After the second lap Naruto realized that he was already used to the extra weight he had put on this morning. 'Looks like I have to up my weights tomorrow,' he thought glumly.

By the time 7:00 p.m. rolled around, Naruto was sweating profusely. During his workout he had dispelled his clones that were working on control. Once again his control improved, but it wasn't the drastic difference that it had been two days ago. 'I hope Hinata's exercise is a good one. Then maybe I can start working on the _Rasengan_.'

Naruto dragged himself back to the village and into his apartment. He was surprised to find a group of clones looking through several scrolls. Naruto smacked his forehead. 'Of course, I completely forgot the clones at the library.' He then began to dispel the clones one at a time. When he was finished he noticed that today's scrolls were a little more varied.

While the clones had still gotten a few minor wind jutsus, there were also some scrolls on the political history of Konoha. 'I guess that makes sense. After all, I can't be a good Hokage if I don't know something about politics.' There was also a scroll on the major clans of Konoha, which included the Uchiha, Hyuuga, and several other names he recognized from his class.

There were also some books on strategy and even some instructions on how to play shogi. 'This should come in handy. A physically weaker opponent can beat a stronger one with a well planned strategy.' Looking around some more he found a few scrolls on basic first aid and medical jutsus. 'These probably won't help me all that much, but they could come in handy if one of my teammates gets hurt.'

Naruto spent the rest of the night either going over the scrolls himself, as he was too tired to make any more kage bunshin, or making sure he had everything he needed for Kakashi's test the next day. After eating dinner, Naruto put away all of the scrolls that littered his apartment and prepared for bed. He was asleep before his head hit his pillow.


	5. The True Test

"Speech"

'Thought'

_Jutsu/Scrolls_

"**Demon/Summons**"

* * *

Chapter 5: The True Test 

Naruto stood just outside of training field 7. It wasn't until he reached the field that he remembered Kakashi's words about not eating breakfast today. 'Oh well, I shouldn't go into a fight on an empty stomach anyways. What good would I be if I was handicapped because I was hungry?'

Sasuke and Sakura had yet to arrive, but they'd most likely be there soon. So without wasting any time, Naruto created two clones and sent one into the field to wait for his teammates. If what Teuchi said was true, then Naruto had plenty of time before Kakashi arrived. And he'd be damned if he didn't use that extra time to train.

Naruto watched as his second clone took his position in a nearby tree, giving him a clear view of the first clone. If by the off chance Kakashi actually showed up on time, the hidden clone would disperse and the real Naruto would return to replace the clone in the field.

With the clones in position, Naruto made his way to a nearby vacant training field. He decided to do a light workout this morning, as well as forgoing increasing his weights today. It wouldn't do for him to exhaust himself before Kakashi's test.

After a half hour of warm-ups, Naruto took a seat near a tree and pulled out a few scrolls he'd brought from his apartment. Naruto didn't want to waste the energy of leaving clones at his apartment, so he brought a few with him. He figured he'd start with the fuuton jutsus. The first two scrolls were simple techniques that were meant as introductory jutsus. Picking up the first scroll, Naruto set to work.

This first jutsu, _Saikuronge no Jutsu,_ taught him how to channel his chakra into the air around him. He had to learn to cause the air around him to spin like a cyclone, albeit a very weak cyclone. The second jutsu, _Kazeken_, taught him to not only move the air, but direct it as well. When he learned this technique, he could emit wind from his palms, but again it was far too weak to use in a combat situation.

Normally, Naruto would have liked to start out with something a bit more powerful, but he didn't want to tire himself yet. So he might as well start with the basics while he waited for Kakashi.

* * *

Back at field 7… 

Naruto's clone had been waiting about twenty minutes when his teammates arrived. Both seemed to still be mostly asleep, though Sasuke carried himself a little better. Sakura on the other hand looked as though she had just woken up. 'I wonder if they skipped breakfast,' Naruto thought to himself. Naruto bid a good morning to both Sasuke and Sakura. They responded with a grunt and a glare, respectively.

The next hour was spent in relative silence. Sakura was too tired to bug Sasuke. Sasuke had taken his usual pose with his fingers interlaced in front of his face while he sat against a tree, brooding, though Naruto suspected that he had dozed off after the first fifteen minutes. The clone was under direct orders to not antagonize his teammates. It couldn't risk getting dispelled early because Sakura decided to vent some frustration on it.

Sakura decided to break the silence by asking Sasuke some innocuous questions, which he just ignored or grunted a reply. Of course, Sakura was undeterred in her questions. For the most part they ignored Naruto's clone.

After a half hour of getting no reply, Sakura turned to her other teammate. For the first time she actually took the time to notice his new appearance. "Hey, Naruto. What's with the new outfit?"

The clone blinked. 'Did she just notice?' "I felt like it was time a change, why?"

"It took you this long to change out of that horrid jumpsuit. Seriously, what kind of ninja wears that many bright colors?" Sakura asked rhetorically.

This statement caused the clone's eyebrow to twitch, and it couldn't stop the words that flew out of its mouth. "Oh, and I suppose having pink hair and wearing bright red is more fitting for a shinobi. If you're going to criticize someone for their attire, maybe you should take a look at what you're wearing first." Looking up at the pink haired girl, the clone remembered his orders and began to regret his words.

Sakura was seething. "What did you say Naruto-baka?" She raised her fist and started to stalk menacingly towards the blonde.

'Crap,' thought the clone. He raised his hands defensively and tried to placate the enraged kunoichi. Nothing seemed to work, and the clone was certain that its existence was about to come to an end. Fortunately, luck seemed to be on Naruto's side that day.

In a poof Kakashi arrived in the training field to see Sakura about to pound Naruto's skull in. "Yo," he said simply.

Sakura's rage at the blond evaporated, and was turned on her late sensei. "You're late," she yelled. Sasuke was brought out of his little nap by the shout and was now standing next to his teammates, giving Kakashi a hard glare. Naruto wore an annoyed expression, though he was noticeably less angry at his sensei than his other teammates.

"Sorry about that, you see there was a black cat that crossed my path, and I had to convince it to retrace its steps," Kakashi said as if it were the most common thing in the world.

His three students were stunned. Each looked at Kakashi with a blank look, not quite processing what he just said. Eventually, the Naruto clone broke the silence. It collapsed on the ground, laughing hysterically. This broke Sakura out of here shock. "LIAR!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Kakashi decided to ignore the genin's reactions. Instead he reached into his vest and pulled out an alarm clock. Naruto stopped laughing immediately, and looked at his teacher with a confused look. "You've had a clock on you this entire time, and you're still late."

Again Kakashi ignored him and pulled out two lunch boxes. Seeing the confused looks on his genin's faces, he decided to elaborate. "The goal of today's exercise is to retrieve these two bells from my person," he said, dangling two silver bells from his fingers. "Those of you who don't get a bell before noon will be tied to a post while your teammates eat lunch."

Two loud growls could be heard coming from Sakura and Sasuke's stomachs. Naruto looked at his teammates with a pitying look. 'I guess they didn't eat breakfast after all.'

Sakura then seemed to notice something. "Ano, sensei there are only two bells."

Kakashi's eye curved upward as he smiled. "That's right, which means one of you won't get a bell. And whoever doesn't get a bell will be sent back to the academy." Now he really had the genin's attention. "If you want to get a bell you'll have to come at me with the intent to kill." Looking closely at the faces of the genins, he saw determination in the eyes of all three, as well as a hint of fear in Sakura's.

"Now, without further ado…," all three genin began to tense, "begin." With that the three young ninja jumped into the forest surrounding them. 'Let the fun begin,' thought Kakashi.

* * *

The real Naruto had arrived at the edge of the training field shortly before the beginning of the test. He had been able to master the two simple techniques from his scrolls during the time waiting on Kakashi. He'd spent the last couple of minutes reading up on a more powerful technique, _Fuuton: Daitoppa_. It was a chuunin level technique that allowed him to emit a powerful blast of wind. 

When his clone had dispelled itself he made his way back to the training ground and waited for his chance to switch with his clone. Once it started, he saw his clone rush into the woods. The moment the clone was out of sight, Naruto dispelled him, and was immediately aware of Kakashi's test. Although he was confused by the rules.

'I thought that Iruka-sensei said all genin teams were comprised of three genin. So what's with the threat of booting one of us from the team?' Naruto looked into the clearing to see Kakashi just standing there. 'Now, how am I going to get one of those bells?' thought Naruto as he tried to devise a plan.

Kakashi stood in the middle of the clearing, waiting to see which genin would make the first move. 'It seems that each of them knows how to hide effectively, although Naruto seemed to disappear when he reached the forest.' He was pulled from his thoughts when he saw said genin standing about thirty feet away from him. "You know… compared to the other two, you're a little strange."

Naruto just smiled at the comment. "Yeah, but it's so much more fun than being ordinary. Now prepare to lose one of those bells."

"We'll see," said Kakashi, sounding bored. He reached into the pouch on his back and pulled out an orange covered book.

Upon seeing the book, Naruto became extremely annoyed. "Why the hell are you reading a book?"

"To see what happens next, of course."

"I take it you're not going to take me seriously, are you?" asked Naruto rhetorically.

"No, I don't think I'll have to," Kakashi said, his eye still on the book in front of him. Deciding to teach his teacher a lesson, Naruto rushed him. "Lesson #1: Taijutsu," Naruto heard Kakashi say.

Naruto started off by throwing a flying roundhouse kick at Kakashi's head, which he easily avoided. Spinning around Naruto threw a flurry of punches and kicks at the jounin, which were also easily blocked or dodged. 'Kuso, he's toying with me.' Naruto cocked back his fist and let loose a haymaker, only to find himself facing air.

"Never let your opponent get behind you," said Kakashi's voice from behind Naruto. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw his sensei with his hands in a tiger seal.

"Naruto, get out of there, he's gonna destroy you," shouted Sakura's voice.

"Too late. _Sennen Goroshi_," Kakashi yelled, as he stuck his fingers into a very painful place on Naruto's body. Sakura and Sasuke both sweat-dropped as Naruto was sent flying through the air, holding his ass with both hands. Their expressions turned to ones of shock as 'Naruto' disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi's visible eye widened. '_Kage Bunshin_!?' Sensing an approaching presence, Kakashi spun around to see Naruto flying at him with his fist cocked back. The jounin expertly caught the limb, spinning around and launching Naruto back where he came from. But Naruto wasn't done yet. Turning in midair so he was facing Kakashi, Naruto formed the hand seals for _Kage Bunshin_. Two clones appeared in front of him, each grabbing an arm, and with all their strength, threw him back at the jounin. Naruto curled into a ball and spun in a front flip.

'Impressive, he used _Kage Bunshin_ to redirect his momentum. He turned a failed attack into an offensive opportunity.'

Naruto was flipping forward at Kakashi at dangerous speeds. When he reached the jounin, he extended his leg and brought it down in a powerful axe kick. Kakashi raised his free hand to block the attack. Naruto used that block as a step, doing a back flip off the arm, pulling out a kunai and throwing it at the bells tied to Kakashi's waist. Kakashi side-stepped the kunai, but felt his legs being swept out from under him. Flipping backwards to land on his feet, Kakashi looked up to see another clone had come up from behind with a leg sweep.

Standing up straight, Kakashi put his book back into his pouch. 'Maybe this could wait for later.'

Naruto smiled at the disappearance of the orange book. He looked at his clone and both nodded at some unheard agreement. Immediately both Naruto's took off at their sensei, as Kakashi dropped into a defensive stance. But instead of attacking Kakashi head on, the clone jumped in the path of the original. Interlacing its fingers, it lowered its hands as the real Naruto placed his foot in his palms. With a grunt the clone launched Naruto into the air.

Kakashi quickly dispelled the clone with a well placed hit, and returned his attention to the airborne Uzumaki. At the crest of his leap Naruto let loose a single shuriken at Kakashi.

'One shuriken,' Kakashi mentally scoffed. That is until he recognized the seals Naruto was currently running through. 'H-how could he know that jutsu.'

"_Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu._" The single shuriken soon multiplied into dozens, and Kakashi was in a difficult situation. Sakura and Sasuke watched in horror and awe as the shuriken peppered their sensei and the ground around him, kicking up dust. When the dust settled it revealed a log riddled with shuriken. Naruto landed not far from his little scene of destruction.

'He used_ Kawarimi no Jutsu. _Phew, I don't think I could stand killing my sensei. But if he's late one more time…' Naruto decided not to pursue that train of thought as he ran back into the cover of the forest.

Kakashi watched Naruto from his hiding place in a nearby tree. 'I thought all he learned was _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_, his file didn't say anything about _Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_.' He decided to push these thoughts aside for now and find his other two charges.

Sasuke watched his blonde haired teammate leave the clearing, his eyes burning with envy. 'Where did the dobe learn those jutsu, they weren't taught in the academy. So how can he know them?'

Naruto ran through the forest, looking for suitable hiding spot. After he found a place under a tree, he stopped to try to come up with another plan. 'Alright, taking him on in a straight taijutsu fight isn't going to work. And he hasn't even used ninjutsu besides _kawarimi_. He's just too damn good, how the hell am I supposed to get in close enough to get a bell from a jounin?' He was interrupted from his musings when he heard a scream from another part of the forest. 'That was Sakura.' He stood and began to make his way to where the scream had originated.

He found Sakura unconscious in a small clearing not far from where he was. Kneeling down beside the girl, he began to inspect her for injuries. 'There aren't any physical injuries… Genjutsu?' Naruto paused a moment to remember what methods he could use to break a genjutsu. 'One, you stop the chakra flow in your body so the genjutsu has no anchor. Two, you emit a pulse of chakra to disrupt the genjutsu, or three, have someone else channel chakra into your body to disrupt the jutsu. Since she's not really in a state to use the first two, I guess I have to go with option three.' Naruto reached down and touched Sakura's shoulder, channeling a small amount of chakra into her body.

Soon enough Sakura began to stir. Her eyes blinked open and she began to sit up. For a moment she held a confused look on her face, but her eyes widened as she remembered what had happened. She jumped to her feet and frantically began to scan the clearing. But she didn't find what she was looking for, and her eyes finally rested on Naruto.

"Where's Sasuke-kun?" she barked out.

"Gee, nice to see you too. Anyway, I'm sure the Uchiha's trying to get one of the bells as we speak, although I doubt he'll be able to get one."

"What would you know Naruto. Sasuke-kun will be able to get one of those bells no problem," said Sakura matter-of-factly.

"Right, except for the fact that he's facing a jounin, and we're just genin. There's no way that we can face him by ourselves," said Naruto.

"Oh yeah Naruto. Then what's the point of the test if we can't even get the bells."

Naruto didn't have an immediate answer to this, so he sat down and thought it over. "Either Kakashi has a ridiculous set of standards, or there's more to this test than he let on." 'But what could it be? What's the point of having us get a bell that we have no chance of getting by ourselves?' Naruto's eyes widened at this thought. 'By ourselves…'

Before he could pursue this train of thought, he and Sakura heard an explosion somewhere in the training grounds. "Sounds like your boyfriend's going for one of the bells right now. Come on, let's go check it out." Sakura simply nodded, eager to see Sasuke in action.

It didn't take long for the pair to reach their destination, although they were a little surprised by what they found. Sasuke was buried up to his neck in the ground, so only his head shown. Sakura let out a horrified shriek and passed out.

Naruto looked at his pink-haired teammate and just shook his head. "Way to go Uchiha, and I had just woken her up too." He then walked over to his buried teammate with a wide grin on his face. "So Sasuke, what do you think? Are we gonna have six more weeks of winter," Naruto said before he burst out laughing. Sasuke shot Naruto the dirtiest look he could, but due to his current predicament it only succeeded in making Naruto laugh harder.

After a minute of laughing at the misfortunes of the Uchiha, Naruto calmed himself down. "Looks like you could use some help Sasuke," said Naruto in an oddly serious voice.

"I don't need help from a dobe like you," Sasuke spat out.

"Really," said Naruto in mock surprise, "then I suppose being buried up to your neck in dirt was all part of your genius plan to get one of the bells." When Sasuke didn't reply, Naruto just summoned a few clones to dig him out. Once he did that he applied a little chakra to Sakura. It seemed to work for waking her up from a nap as well as breaking a genjutsu.

Once both of his teammates were on there feet, Naruto spoke to get their attention. "Well, this is a nice reunion and all, but how about we figure out a way to get one of those bells."

Both genins looked at him as if he had grown a second head. "And what makes you think that I even need help from either of you?" asked Sasuke.

Naruto let out a sigh. "Because, Sasuke, we're facing a jounin. How is a genin supposed to take on a jounin all on their lonesome? We need to work together if any of us are gonna pass."

"Whatever dobe, I'm getting one of those bells, and I don't need your help to do it." With that Sasuke turned around and walked away.

"Wait for me Sasuke-kun," said Sakura as she ran to catch up to her crush. Naruto shook his head at his teammates, but jumped when he heard an alarm go off, signaling the end of the exercise.

Unknown to the three genin, Kakashi was nearby eavesdropping on their conversation. 'It seems that Naruto's figured it out, but Sasuke and Sakura seem to need an extra push.' In a poof he was gone, and reappeared in front of his team. "Times up," he said ominously.

Ten minutes later found Team 7 back where they started, except this time with one of them tied to a training post.

Sakura squirmed against the ropes that bound her. "Why am I the one that's tied up sensei?"

"Because Sakura, out of all three of you, you were the only one who didn't attempt to retrieve a bell." Sakura hung her head dejectedly. "But, I have good news. Naruto is the only one going back to the academy."

Naruto's head snapped up to look at his sensei. He glanced to his fellow genin to see a smug look on Sasuke's face, and one of pity on Sakura's. Clenching his fists, Naruto was about to go off on a rant but Kakashi's next words stopped him. "So congratulations Naruto." Naruto's look of rage was instantly replaced by intense confusion.

"Why should you be congratulating me? I'm the only one who didn't make genin."

"I never said that Naruto. You deserve a second chance at becoming a genin, while Sasuke and Sakura should drop out of the program altogether." Now it was Sasuke and Sakura's turn to gape at Kakashi.

"What, why should Sasuke-kun and I quit, Naruto was dead last in the academy," said Sakura.

"Because Sakura, Naruto is the only one here who realized the true purpose of the test. You two, on the other hand, don't deserve to be ninja."

Sasuke was furious. 'How dare he stop me from reaching my goal.' Without thinking clearly, he rushed Kakashi with a kunai in hand. Faster than any of the genin could follow, Sasuke was thrown to the ground with Kakashi sitting on his back.

"Hey, you can't sit on Sasuke-kun like that," Sakura shrieked.

Kakashi just ignored her though. "This test was never about getting the bells off of me. They were merely used to distract you from the tests true purpose."

"True purpose?" asked Sakura.

"Teamwork," Naruto and Kakashi said at the same time. Kakashi looked at Naruto with a smile.

"That's right Naruto. I wanted to see if you would put aside your own wants and desires to work together." He shifted his gaze to rest on Sakura. "Sakura, Naruto was right in front of you, but you didn't do anything to help him when he was facing me. You were too focused on Sasuke to do anything else." He looked down at the genin beneath him. "Sasuke, you viewed your teammates as dead weight, beneath you. That kind of attitude can get you or your teammates killed."

Kakashi stood and let Sasuke to his feet. Walking away from the training posts, he made his way to stand in front of a stone monument. "This monument was erected in memory of all the shinobi who gave their lives for this village. Each one of them fought for something more than themselves. They fought for this village, for there families and for eachother. My best friend's name is on this monument."

Naruto stood and made his way next to his sensei, eyes on the monument. He scanned the smooth surface noting all the names that were carved into it. But one name stood out to him. _Namikaze Minato_. Naruto had to resist the urge to reach out and touch the engraving.

"Alright, I'll give you one last chance to get the bells from me. You'll have a break to rest and eat until you come after me again. But Sakura doesn't get any food; she's got to learn that if she doesn't put forth the effort, she won't earn the reward. If I catch either one of you giving her food, I'll fail you immediately." With that Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Sasuke and Naruto grabbed their lunches and began to eat. They were interrupted, however, by a loud growl emanating from Sakura's stomach. When they looked at her she blushed deeply and mumbled something about not eating breakfast. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other and seemed to come to a silent agreement. Simultaneously, both boys held out their lunch to the hungry girl.

Sakura's eyes widened at the gesture. "What are you doing, Kakashi-sensei said if I ate anything we automatically fail."

Sasuke just sighed. "If we're going back up against Kakashi again, then all of us are going to have to be in top shape. That's not going to happen if you're too hungry to fight."

Sakura looked from Sasuke to Naruto, who just grinned at her. "Yeah, you can have my lunch. I ate breakfast this morning, so I'm not that hungry."

At first, Sakura was going to argue against doing this, but both of her teammates were adamant that she eat. But as she was about to accept Naruto's lunch, he passed it to Sasuke. "Here, why don't you feed her, my hands are a little sore from digging you out of the ground." Sasuke's eyebrow twitched at the comment, but decided to let it slide for now. Sakura blushed deeply at the thought of being fed by her crush. Letting out a sigh, the Uchiha prepared to feed the girl, but was interrupted by the arrival of an angry Kakashi.

"I thought I said not to feed her!" Kakashi said menacingly, the clouds in the sky darkening.

It frightened the genins, but they held a defiant resolve in their eyes. "You told us that this exercise was about teamwork. What kind of teammates would we be if we let one of our teammates starve?" said Sasuke.

"Yeah, how can you spout all that stuff about teamwork and not expect us to give her our food?" shouted Naruto.

Kakashi looked hard at the genin. "You've disregarded a direct order, so you leave me no choice. All of you…" he paused, the genins heads drooping, "pass." All at once, the heads of the young ninja snapped up to look wide eyed at their sensei.

Naruto stuck a finger in his ear to clean it out. "Sorry sensei, I must have heard you wrong. I thought you just said we passed."

"No mistake Naruto, you all passed."

"But sensei," said Sakura, "we broke the rules."

"True. In the shinobi world, those who break the rules are trash… but those who abandon their comrades are lower than trash." Kakashi smiled at his new team. "We begin taking missions and training tomorrow," he said, just before disappearing in a cloud of smoke, leaving a bewildered Team 7 in his wake.

* * *

30 minutes later… 

"… and then Kakashi-sensei shows up and tells us we passed. The bastard nearly gave me a heart attack," said Naruto as he finished telling the proprietors of Ichiraku Ramen about his day.

Teuchi stood behind his counter, rubbing his chin in a thoughtful manner. "That's a good story Naruto, but I'm not sure I buy you figuring out the test. Are you sure Sasuke didn't figure it out," the old man said in a teasing voice.

Naruto began to see red. He was about to hop over the counter to throttle the chef, but was cut off by Ayame, who smacked her father in the back of the head. "Tou-san, quit teasing Naruto-kun." She turned to their best customer. "Congratulations Naruto-kun, but where are your teammates? Shouldn't they be here celebrating with you?"

Naruto just shook his head. "Nah, Sasuke wouldn't be caught dead socializing, and Sakura just follows him like a lost puppy. Anyways, I've got better things to do than hang around those two."

"Like what?" asked Ayame.

"Well, I'm going to do some training with…" he began to say, but stopped mid sentence. He brought up his watch to look at the time. "Damn! I'm gonna be late." Slapping some money on the counter, Naruto turned and ran away from the ramen stand. "I gotta run, see ya later," he called out over his shoulder.

"Wonder what's got him so excited," asked Teuchi to no one in particular, though since Ayame was the only one there, she answered.

"I don't know. Maybe he's got a date."

"Don't think so. If he did, he'd have brought her here," said Teuchi matter of factly.

"He wouldn't bring a girl to a little ramen stand for his first date," Ayame retorted.

"Oh yes he would, I've got it in writing," Teuchi said while pulling a piece of paper out from beneath the counter and handing it to Ayame.

After taking a moment to read it, she found it to be a contract stating Naruto, for his first date with any girl, would bring said girl to Ichiraku Ramen. She looked up at her father disbelievingly. "How on earth did you get him to sign this?"

"How else, with free ramen," said Teuchi with a grin. Soon the streets surrounding Ichiraku Ramen were filled with the angry yells of a young woman, screaming about crooked old men taking advantage of ramen addicted customers.

* * *

Hinata stood near the stream that ran through Naruto's training field. She had arrived nearly half an hour early for their meeting, and had regretted doing so after only five minutes. Since then she had become more and more distraught. 'What if he doesn't show up, what if he forgot about me? Maybe he changed his mind and doesn't want to train with someone as weak as me.' These thoughts and similar ones had been running through her mind for about twenty minutes. Fortunately her fears were unfounded, as she heard someone come crashing through forest. 

Naruto jumped into the clearing, panting heavily. After taking a moment to catch his breath, Naruto stood and greeted Hinata. "Hey Hinata, sorry if I'm late. My team's test took a little longer than I expected. By the way, how did your team do on your test?"

"W-We did fine. Kurenai-sensei h-had us track her d-down while she was h-hiding in the f-forest. It took us an h-hour, but w-we were finally a-able to find her h-hiding under a g-genjutsu."

"That was it?" asked Naruto in a quiet unbelieving voice. Hinata was about to reply but was cut off. "That was it!? That bastard put us through all of that crap when we could have just had a test like that," Naruto yelled. Hinata flinched at the volume of his voice. Naruto calmed immediately after seeing her reaction. "Sorry Hinata, I'm not mad at you, but that teme Kakashi-sensei."

"A-Ano, why are you m-mad at your sensei?"

Once again Naruto regaled someone with the events of his day. After he finished, Hinata was left wide eyed by his story. Silence fell between the two for a while, but was soon broken by Naruto.

"So… what's this chakra control technique that you're going to teach me, Hinata?"

Hinata snapped out of her daze and blushed prettily. "I'm g-going to s-show you the water w-walking technique, Naruto-kun." She walked to the water's edge and formed a ram seal. Naruto watched in awe as Hinata walked out onto the water's surface.

"Whoa," said Naruto staring at Hinata. She blushed heavily under Naruto's gaze, but kept up her focus lest she fall into the water. "Hinata, that is so cool. How do you do that?" he asked excitedly, practically bouncing on his toes.

Hinata took a moment to walk back to shore before replying. "Y-You have to emit a constant stream of ch-chakra into the water to create a s-stable surface to walk on."

Naruto pondered her explanation for a bit, and then nodded his head. Focusing his chakra, Naruto took a step onto the water. And through the water, onto a slippery smooth stone. Loosing his footing, Naruto fell straight into the stream, soaking him from head to toe. Naruto sputtered as he climbed back to his feet.

"Naruto-kun, are you all right?" asked a concerned Hinata.

Naruto just smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his. "I guess I'm gonna need a lot of practice, eh Hinata?" Walking out of the water, Naruto took off his jacket and head band and laid them both on the ground. He'd have taken more clothes off, but didn't think it would be appropriate in front of a lady. Hinata still blushed when he removed those articles of clothing.

Walking back to the water, Naruto made another attempt. Refocusing his chakra, he took a more tentative step onto the surface. He sank once again, but their seemed to be some resistance to the fall. 'This could take a while.'

An hour later, Naruto was still working on the technique. But he was definitely making progress. He was able to keep himself from sinking, but had yet to make his way to the water's surface. But this wasn't what Naruto was really interested in. No, what really caught his attention was Hinata's patience and willingness to help him. He'd never really had anyone take the time or effort to really teach him anything. Sure, Iruka had helped here and there, but he always had some other matters to attend to or other students to train. Hinata just stayed by the shore, offering small bits of advice and showing him an example of the jutsu.

"Ne, Hinata. Can I ask you something?" asked Naruto while still in the water. Hinata just looked up at Naruto with a slightly confused expression.

"H-Hai."

"Why are you helping me so much?" He regretted his choice of words when her head fell. "Not that I don't appreciate it, because I really, really, really do. But not a lot of people really want to spend a lot of time with me," he ended in a quiet voice.

Hinata looked up with a surprised expression at his tone. "B-Because that's what f-friends do. T-They help e-eachother."

"Friends?" Naruto said more to himself than Hinata. He had never had what you'd call a friend. Most parents would drag their children away from him before he could forge those bonds, and by the time his academy days rolled around, most of the kids had picked up on their parent's behavior and mimicked it.

Hinata took his lapse in silence as rejection and began to back peddle. "T-That's i-if you w-want to be f-friends, N-Naruto-kun. B-But I'll understand if y-you don't want to…"

"Of course I'd like to be your friend Hinata. But won't your family be a little upset with you hanging around with me?"

Hinata's eyes fell at the mention of her family. In a voice even quieter than usual she said, "Actually, my family d-doesn't much care what I do."

Naruto had to strain to hear her words, but hear them he did. "Huh, why wouldn't they care about you Hinata? I thought all families cared about each other."

Hinata flinched at his words. 'Naruto-kun's an orphan. Here I am complaining about my family, when he's never had one.' She stopped berating herself when she saw the curiosity and slight concern in his eyes. She couldn't help but answer.

"My family, especially my father, think that I'm weak. T-They don't think that I'm fit to be the heiress to the clan. My father is always telling me that I'm too weak and kind hearted. To him I'm just a failure," she said with tears in her eyes. She looked up to see Naruto with an outraged look on his face, as well as understanding in his eyes.

'She's treated just like me, by her own family no less.' Taking a step forward, Naruto placed a comforting hand on Hinata's shoulder. "Don't listen to them Hinata. The only failures in this world are the ones who give up and don't try to better themselves. As long as you believe in yourself and give it your all, you'll never be a failure."

Hinata was so shocked at Naruto's heartfelt speech she didn't even blush when he had made contact. This was a Naruto that few had ever seen before. His voice was quiet, caring, serious and determined. Hinata felt as if Naruto could instill his own confidence in others with only his voice.

Naruto's face broke out into his trademark grin. "Hey, Hinata. Why don't we train together more often? That way we can show this village what 'failures' can really do."

Hinata nodded numbly, still a little stunned. She soon snapped out of her daze and became aware of Naruto's close proximity. She blushed heavily and bowed her head while poking her index fingers together. But by looking down, she made an interesting discovery.

"A-Ano, Naruto-kun…" she said, still looking down.

"Huh…" Naruto looked down to see what she was looking at, and his eyes widened in surprise. Apparently, their entire conversation had taken place on top of the water's surface. Naruto just stared at his own feet for a moment, not quite believing what he was seeing. Suddenly, he launched off of his feet, pumping his fist into the air. "Yatta!" But upon hitting the water again, he immediately broke the surface, once again soaking himself and splashing Hinata.

Despite being covered in water, Hinata couldn't help but giggle at Naruto. Naruto smiled up at the laughing girl and soon joined her. He couldn't help but notice that she had a very pretty laugh.

Hinata helped Naruto out of the water, and for the next half hour, they fine tuned his mastery of water walking. She was very surprised by the speed at which Naruto learned the technique. In the academy she had noticed his horrendous chakra control. It was hard not to with the way he pumped a ridiculous amount of chakra into any jutsu he performed.

Once they had finished and made it back to shore, Naruto formed a few hand seals. The air around him began to churn, swirling around him like a mini-tornado. After about a minute the wind died down and Naruto was left mostly dry. Once again, Hinata was left wide eyed by Naruto's actions. It was actually starting to get a little irritating.

'Naruto-kun, how much could you have grown in just a few days?'

"Hey Hinata, if you feel like it, you can stop by here anytime. I've never had a sparring partner before, and who knows, maybe I could teach you a thing or two," Naruto said with his cocky grin.

"O-Okay Naruto-kun. I'd like that," said Hinata while blushing. Unfortunately, she couldn't stay today. Her father was expecting her home to give a report of her team's performance. He'd no doubt find a way to criticize her performance, but she couldn't break a meeting with her father, she was already pushing it by staying with Naruto for so long. So it was great reluctance that she said her goodbye, and left Naruto to train by himself.

Naruto spent the rest of the day mastering the wind jutsu he'd been reading that morning, while a group of his clones remained by the stream to work on control. It took him most of the day to get _Daitoppa_ mostly figured out. He probably could have figured it out sooner if he had used his clones, but it just didn't seem right to do so.

It was different using them to improve his chakra control and knowledge. He had a natural handicap with his control because of the Kyuubi and his large reserves. And most of the academy teachers refused to teach him anyway. So using clones to improve those areas was merely a way of catching up to the rest of his age group. But using them to learn a jutsu seemed too much like cheating. Ninja spent days, weeks, months to master their jutsus, and using his clones seemed like a slap in the face to all of those hardworking shinobi's. So Naruto made a promise to himself. He would never use his clones to master a jutsu, unless it was absolutely necessary.

Naruto finished his training session with a physical workout. He started out with his regular regimen, but began to perform different alterations on his exercises. Instead of just running around the clearing, Naruto began to run up the trees with his chakra. He also began to do pull-ups using chakra in the palms of his hands to latch to a tree branch. Now his exercises not only increased his physical capabilities, but also his chakra control and reserves. But it definitely took something out of him.

By the time Naruto reached his apartment, he was exhausted, both mentally and physically. He was vaguely aware that he seemed to be making that a habit. But despite that, he felt good about himself. He was truly making strives to be a great shinobi, and he would only continue to work harder every day.

* * *

AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Jutsus brought to you by TSBasilisk

Saikuronge no Jutsu: Lesser Cyclone Technique

Kazeken: Wind fist


	6. Spiraling Sphere

AN: I'd like to thank everyone who offered tips on translation sites. Also, it seems that a lot of people seemed to have a problem with Naruto's use of Kage Bunshin, or lack thereof. Most people made the argument that ninjas don't have the same code of honor that other people would have, that Naruto should use every asset he can to become stronger. This is a very valid point and I can understand where you people are coming from, but I believe Naruto has a code of honor that not many shinobi have. Like his determination to always keep his word, no matter what. But don't worry, Naruto's going to lighten up slightly on this rule as the story goes on.

And a special thanks to TSBasilisk for his name recommendation for the two wind jutsus in the last chapter.

"Speech"

'Thought'

_Scroll/Jutsu_

"**Demon/Summons**"

* * *

Chapter 6: Spiraling Sphere 

Naruto was running at a decent speed around the village, trying to vent some frustration. It had been a week since he'd officially become a genin, and to say that Naruto was disappointed with his current duties as a ninja would be quite the understatement. Now he hadn't built up these expectations of immediately being sent out on high ranking, super secret and difficult missions, but he'd at least expected something remotely challenging. Instead, they received every menial chore that the villagers were either unable or too lazy to do themselves. When Naruto began his shinobi career, he hadn't thought he'd be walking dogs for missions.

And training with his team hadn't exactly been a picnic either. Normally, Kakashi was so late that they didn't have time to train as a team. But when they did, it was always some team building exercise. And those didn't normally go too well.

Sasuke still tried to ignore his teammates for the most part. He would try to take any opportunity he could to showcase his skills and flaunt his superiority. It seemed that he wanted to make sure his position as number one wasn't threatened by Kakashi's bell test. Sakura only exacerbated matters by stroking his ego with shouts of admiration and encouragement.

Naruto, for his part, merely tried his best to get through the exercises, if only just to placate Kakashi. He didn't want to have to spend hours on an exercise just because Kakashi thought their teamwork was lacking. He had better things to do with his time.

Speaking of time, Naruto was finally beginning to set up some kind of daily training schedule. In the morning, he'd perform his usual workout, increasing his weights about every day. He was up to fifty pounds already. After that he'd go meet his team and wait for Kakashi, or at least a clone of him would. Naruto would use this time to read up on a scroll that he hadn't left with a group of clones. When Kakashi did finally show up, Naruto would do whatever mission or training exercise they were assigned to do as quickly as possible, usually with the aid of several clones.

Afterwards, Naruto would grab a quick lunch and run off to his training field. There, he would practice his chakra control, jutsus, or anything else he didn't want to be easily observed. He'd then finish up with a physical workout and run back to the village. Once home Naruto would dispel any lingering clones and just read some scrolls until he went to bed.

Today was shaping up to be the same as his regular routine. But due to his frustrations over missions and training, Naruto decided to take a longer circuit around the village today to relieve some stress. It was during this run that he heard the sound of flesh hitting wood repeatedly coming from a nearby training ground. Curiosity getting the better of him, Naruto started to head to the field.

As he neared the source of the sound, Naruto began to hear a voice to accompany the thuds. "… 121, 122, 123…" said the voice, each number corresponding with a hit. Naruto finally made it to the forests edge so he could see into the clearing.

In the middle of the training field stood a boy not much older than Naruto, repeatedly punching and kicking a training post. He had a bowl haircut, a green spandex jumpsuit, and wore orange legwarmers. 'And people thought I dressed weird,' Naruto thought to himself. He couldn't tell anything else from the boy's appearance since he had his back turned to Naruto. But Naruto did make one important observation. 'Note to self… Never, ever, wear spandex.' The clothing accentuated certain aspects of the male body, and none of them in a good way.

Naruto observed the ninja for a while longer. He was surprised at the sudden appearance of a larger clone of the boy as he completed 200 repetitions. The boy turned to greet the newcomer, quite enthusiastically. "Gai-sensei, I've completed my warm-up . I can feel the flames of youth burning in me."

"Well done my excellent student, you will no doubt become a great shinobi," said Gai as he flashed a grin. The smile faded, however, as he glanced at the forest's edge. In a blur of motion, he was gone.

Naruto stared wide-eyed into the clearing. 'Fast. Where did he go?' "Ahem." Naruto froze, and then he slowly turned around.

Standing before him was the jounin from the clearing, arms crossed and giving Naruto a hard look. Despite his intimidating gaze, Naruto only had one thought. 'Are those eyebrows real?'

"Why are you spying on my student? I find your actions to be most unyouthful."

Naruto blinked. There was something about the man's speech that struck him as familiar. He raised his hands in a placating manner. "No, no. I wasn't spying on anyone. I was just doing my morning workout when I heard noises coming from this field, so I came by to check it out."

Gai seemed to study Naruto for a second. Then his face broke out into a large grin. "Ah, I see. You are merely another ninja striving to capture the flames of youth. Come; allow me to introduce you to my student." With that, Gai led Naruto into the clearing, to a waiting Lee. "Naruto, I'd like you to meet my most hardworking student, Rock Lee."

Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously as he stretched his other hand out to Lee. "Uh hi, I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

Instantly, Lee was in front of Naruto, shaking his hand furiously. "Hello Naruto-san, it's good to meet you." Naruto looked to the jounin, whose name he hadn't really gotten yet.

Gai seemed to pick up on Naruto's unasked question. "And I am the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha, Maito Gai," he shouted as he struck a pose.

Again Naruto blinked. 'This is just getting weirder and weirder.' Then something Gai said seemed to register in his mind. "Maito Gai? Are you the one who wrote _Fanning the Flames of Youth_?" Incredibly, Gai's grin seemed to widen at this.

"Aha, so you have read my book to better capture the flames of youth. I hope you found its contents helpful."

"Definitely, ever since I read your book I've worked harder than I ever have before. A lot harder than any training Kakashi-sensei puts us through."

Gai's eyes lit up at this last statement. "So, you are one of the students of my eternal rival Kakashi."

"Eternal rival?" said a confused Naruto.

"Yes, Kakashi is my rival. We compete in all things, and the score stands tied at 41 to 41. And if I don't defeat him in our next challenge, then I will do two hundred laps around the village on one leg."

Naruto could only watch as Gai struck a pose and his smile gleamed. He found it even stranger that Lee was staring at his teacher in awe and admiration.

Gai dropped his good guy pose returned his focus to Naruto. "Since you're here on this beautiful morning Naruto-san, would you like to join Lee and myself in our pursuit to fan the flames of our youth?" Naruto had to think for a moment before he realized he meant training.

At first Naruto wanted to say no and run, far, far away. Things were just getting a little too weird for this early in the morning. But he stopped himself. This was a jounin as strong as Kakashi, how could he pass up training with him. "Uh sure, that is if you don't mind me tagging along."

Lee decided to answer. "Of course not Naruto-san, anyone who wishes to become stronger through hard work and determination is more than welcome to join us," he said, also striking a good guy pose.

"All right, I'm ready when you are," said Naruto. 'Who knows, maybe this won't be so bad.'

Two hour later…

Naruto collapsed onto the ground of Gai and Lee's training field, thinking that he wanted to pull out whatever part of him that thought it was a good idea to train with them, and ensure that it suffered a slow agonizing death. If Naruto thought that his current training regimen was tough, this was downright suicide. Especially considering the fact that Lee was carrying about four times more weight than he was, Naruto began to wonder if they were even human.

The first hour had been nothing but conditioning. It was similar to Naruto's normal workout, except taken to the extreme. By the end of the hour, every muscle in Naruto's body seemed to be on fire. But Lee and Gai were barely breathing hard. Things took a turn for the worse when Lee offered to spar with Naruto. Again Naruto made a stupid choice.

Naruto thought he was at least a little proficient in taijutsu; apparently he was very much mistaken. Lee outclassed him in every aspect of taijutsu. He was incredibly fast, strong, and his skill in taijutsu was amazing. But with his training regimen, Naruto figured he shouldn't be surprised. Naruto was only able to improve his odds slightly when he started to incorporate his _kage bunshin_ in the spar. By the end of the spar, Naruto and Lee were left panting and bruised, Naruto noticeably more so.

Gai walked up to the exhausted genin with a wide grin on his face. "I am impressed Naruto-san, there are very few who can keep up with Lee and myself during our training. I can clearly see that the flames of youth burn brightly within you. Although your taijutsu seems to be rudimentary, I assume it's the basic form taught at the academy."

"Yeah, I haven't had a lot of people willing to teach me a specific style, and I never really had a sparring partner to help with that area," Naruto said in a quiet voice. He then looked up with a hopeful gleam in his eyes. "Do you think you could teach me Lee's style?" he asked Gai.

"Ha, your youthful energy is most impressive Naruto-san, but not everyone is built to learn the same style. A shinobi's style should be unique to not only their body type, but also their personality. It's true that a shinobi can learn a specific style, like the Goken style that Lee and I use, but to truly master it you must alter it, make it your own. Do you understand Naruto-san?"

Naruto thought to himself for a moment. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. But what style should I learn?"

"Do not fear Naruto-san, for I, Maito Gai, promise to help you find your style, so that you might one day rival the ever passionate Lee in taijutsu."

"Rival Lee, yeah right. He kicked my ass in taijutsu. I don't even want to know what he could have done if he used ninjutsu." As he finished his words he saw Lee's face fall. "What's wrong?"

Gai let out a long sigh. "Naruto-san, I'm afraid Lee is unable to utilize his chakra to perform ninjutsu or genjutsu." Naruto was shocked. He'd never heard of a ninja being unable to perform nin or genjutsu. He looked over to Lee.

"Is that why you're so good at taijutsu, because you can't use other jutsus?"

Lee nodded, but when he looked up, instead of sadness in his eyes, they held fierce determination. "Yes, it is true that I am unable to us nin or genjutsu, but I will become a splendid ninja despite it. I will prove my way of the ninja. That with only taijutsu a person can still become a great shinobi."

Naruto looked up at Lee in awe. 'He's had to work twice as hard as everyone else just to get to the same level.' His respect for his fellow genin increased by leaps and bounds. Pulling himself to his feet despite his protesting body, Naruto walked to Lee and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Lee, I have no doubt that you will become a great ninja. You have more will and drive than anyone I have ever met before. And as long as you stay away from becoming Hokage, I'll be glad to help you in any way I can," he finished with a grin.

The sound of sobbing drew the attention of the genin. Gai had tears streaming down his face as he watched the pair. "It is so wonderful to see that the flames of youth burn so passionately in the next generation of shinobi. Naruto-san, you are more than welcome to join Lee and myself in our morning workouts from now on. With your help I'm sure Lee will become a splendid ninja in no time."

"Uh, thanks," Naruto said uncertainly.

"Gai-sensei," said Lee while running towards his teacher.

"Lee," Gai said as he ran out to meet him.

"Gai-sensei," yelled Lee as he grabbed his teacher in a hug.

"Lee," yelled Gai as he reciprocated. The scenery around them changed into a beach at sunset.

Naruto, who had witnessed the scene, was now frantically rubbing his eyes. 'My eyes will never be clean again. That was wrong on so many levels.' Seeing that the teacher and student were still embracing, Naruto decided it was time to make his exit. There was only so much he could take.

He first headed home to take a shower before he was supposed to 'meet' his team. Not really feeling up to leaving a bunch of clones in his apartment, Naruto decided to forgo that for today. Instead he just took one of the scrolls he had been reading the night before to finish it while he waited for Kakashi. It was the one on the clans of Konoha, and he was very interested in finishing it. After getting cleaned up and having a quick snack, Naruto began to walk to his usual reading spot while sending a clone to meet his team.

When he reached his destination, he immediately plopped down against a tree. For a while he didn't move, just letting his body rest from the insane workout from that day. As the aches in his body lessened, Naruto pulled out the scroll he had brought with him.

Naruto found the information in the scroll very… enlightening. Apparently most of the clans in the village specialized in their formidable family jutsus. The scroll didn't go into much detail as to what those jutsus were, but it gave vague descriptions.

The Akimichi clan seemed to specialize in throwing there weight around, using their size, or even increasing it, to become human wrecking balls. Naruto remembered that Choji was the pleasantly plump sort. 'I guess there was a reason for that.' The Aburame clan seemed to use some sort of insect in their attacks, draining their opponents of chakra. 'I think I remember Shino used to play with bugs during our lunch period.'

The Inuzuka clan specializes in tracking because of their close relationship with their dogs. 'I guess that explains why Kiba always brought his dog to school.' The Nara clan was also known as the 'shadow users.' Apparently, most of the Nara clan were excellent strategists because of their high intelligence. 'Weird, Shikimaru didn't seem all that smart in the academy. Maybe he was just lazy.' The Yamanaka clan was well known for their mind jutsus. Their jutsus could affect a person's ability to think clearly, or could outright control it. Naruto cringed at that thought. 'I wouldn't want Ino walking around in my head.'

The scroll told of several clans in Konoha, but it seemed to focus more on two specific clans. The Hyuuga and the Uchiha. According to the scroll these two clans were renowned and feared throughout the world because of their Kekkei Genkai. The scroll explained that Kekkei Genkai are abilities that can only be passed down through a certain bloodline.

The Hyuugas are a very prestigious and formal clan. They possessed the Byakugan, a very powerful doujutsu. The scroll didn't go into detail on all of the abilities of the Byakugan, but it did vaguely mention something about it being 'all seeing.' Because of their bloodline, the Hyuugas could use one of the most feared taijutsu forms in the world; Jyuuken. The scroll also gave a brief and condensed history of the clan. Apparently, it was one of the first clans to populate Konoha, and there was currently some sort of feud within the family, but the scroll didn't elaborate on that.

The Uchihas were represented in a similar light as the Hyuugas. They also possessed a powerful doujutsu, this one known as the Sharingan. Again, Naruto couldn't discern a whole lot of information about its abilities besides a reference to its amazing perception. It was stated that the Uchiha were once part of the branch family of the Hyuuga, but with Uchiha Madara, split from the Hyuuga and became the Uchiha clan. Unfortunately, the Uchihas were decimated when one of there own betrayed them, leaving only one Uchiha in Konoha. Naruto had heard of the Uchiha Massacre while he was in the academy, but didn't know that it was performed by a family member. The scroll didn't specify the actual identity of the perpetrator.

'What kind of person wipes out their own family?' Naruto thought to himself. 'Is that who Sasuke wants to kill?'

Just as Naruto was finishing the scroll, he felt an influx of memories from his clone.

* * *

Five minutes earlier… 

Team 7 had been waiting for a little over an hour for their sensei to show up. Per usual, Sakura was trying to talk to Sasuke, Sasuke was trying to ignore Sakura, and Naruto was being ignored by both. It still amazed Naruto that the two of them hadn't thought to be utilizing this time to do some extra training. His clone had tried to make that suggestion a few days after their test, but Sakura immediately went into a lecture tone about not tiring themselves out incase they had an important mission. The clone soon had to avoid a fist to the face after making a crack about how crucial picking up trash in the park was to the safety of Konoha.

The monotony was broken up by the surprising arrival of Kakashi-sensei. Surprising, because he was only an hour late. Of course, Sakura still jumped up and shrieked, "You're late!"

Kakashi just smiled at the genin. "Is that right? Hmm, my watch must be broken."

"Liar!" Sakura yelled.

Kakashi ignored her shout. "Anyways, I'm afraid I have a meeting with Sandaime-sama, so no training or missions today. Ja ne." And without another word, Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

The genin just sat their, utterly dumbfounded. Sakura was the first to say something. "THAT BASTARD HAD US WAIT AN HOUR FOR THAT!!!" Sasuke just continued to glare at the spot Kakashi had just vacated. Naruto's clone, although annoyed, found Sakura's reaction quite amusing. This proved to be its downfall as a fist lodged itself in its face for laughing at the pink haired kunoichi.

* * *

Naruto sighed at the end of the memory. 'Great now I have to come up with an excuse as to why a clone was there instead of me. Oh well, I'll think of something later.' Naruto slowly stood from his position, his muscles only slightly sore from his morning workout. Again, he was amazed at the rate he recovered. 'Fortunately, I have better things to do today then some D-rank mission.' 

He certainly did. For the past week Naruto had been training his chakra control by every means he could think of. He began with performing the tree-walking and water walking exercises with different parts of his body. He'd climb trees with only his hands laid flat out on the trunk. Afterwards he'd do push ups on the water's surface, getting to the point where he'd perform most of his workout on top of water. All the while he'd have his clones doing the same tasks as he was.

Yesterday he'd finally gotten to the point that he felt he was ready for what the training was really for. The _Rasengan_.

He made his way through the village, looking for a suitable shop. It took him a while to find one, seeing as he'd never been taken to one as a child. But soon enough he found what he was looking for; a toy shop.

Slipping into a nearby alley, Nauto quickly performed a henge to look like a young child. His disguise in place, Naruto walked into the shop. It didn't take long to find what he wanted. The shopkeeper didn't even look up at him when he placed several water balloons and rubber balls on the counter, merely ringing up the total cost. Taking his purchase, Naruto ran to his apartment to pick up the copied instructions, and then on to his training field.

As Naruto was leaving his apartment, he saw a pile of jutsu scrolls that was left on his kitchen table. 'Hmm, with all of the training on the _Rasengan_ I'm going to be doing, I'm not going to have a whole lot of time for other jutsu.' Of course he knew a solution to this problem; _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_. But he'd already promised he wouldn't use it for jutsu. 'Well, maybe if I only used one clone per jutsu, that's fair right?' After all, he wasn't using his clones as a shortcut to learn a particular jutsu, but to learn several jutsu at the same time. 'If anything, I'm making things harder for myself.' After taking a moment to convince himself that it was indeed fair, Naruto took off to the training field.

When he reached his home away from home, Naruto pulled out several jutsu scrolls and laid them on the ground. After doing so he created one clone for each scroll. The scrolls were each a beginner jutsu for each element. Even though he had an affinity for wind, Naruto thought it best to get a grasp for the other elements.

The fire jutsu was called _Katon: Kaji Kokyuu no Jutsu_. It taught the user how to gather chakra into your throat and use it to ignite the air as you exhale, blowing out a small stream of flame. This was the basic skill for most fire jutsu.

The Suiton jutsu, _Gyazamizu no Jutsu_, was used to draw water from the nearest source. It allowed you to pull water out of underground water tables, or even the air if one were to put enough chakra into it. This jutsu was normally used to gather drinking water, or to douse a small flame.

Next was a Doton jutsu, _Mineraru Kori no Jutsu_, gathered some of the more dense minerals in the ground into a single stone. Some of the more powerful earth users are able to harden it nearly to the density of a diamond.

Finally, the lightning jutsu, Raiton: _Shockkingu Tezawari no Jutsu._ By charging their fingertips with electricity, the user can emit a shock that does little more then numb the area touched. But it allowed the user to get a feel for gathering this particular element.

Once all of the clones had their assigned jutsus, Naruto turned his attention to his own jutsu. Grabbing a water balloon, he headed for the stream to fill it up. Now with a full balloon in hand, Naruto took a seat with the copied instructions in front of him, and began to train. The instructions stated that he had to spin the water in the balloon until it popped. Unfortunately, the instructions were quite vague as to how he was supposed to spin the water. So, two hours later, we find Naruto to be slightly… frustrated.

"God damn it!" he roared while flinging the water balloon across the field. "Why can't I get this?" He'd hardly made any progress in his training and he couldn't understand why. Naruto would spin the water as fast as he could, stretching the balloon to its limits, but it would not pop. The only thing he gained from the training was that spinning his chakra in one direction was easier than spinning it in another.

Naruto sat himself on the ground and tried to calm himself. Taking a few deep breaths, he tried to figure out what he was doing wrong. 'The scroll said I need to spin my chakra with the water to pop the balloon, but it's not working. I spin until the damn thing looks like a Frisbee but it still doesn't pop.' That thought made him pause. 'From what the scroll described, the _Rasengan_ should look spherical, not like a disc. So what am I doing wrong?'

His attention was suddenly diverted when some rustling came from the direction he had thrown the balloon. Looking that way, he saw a squirrel scurry into the field and started to play with the water balloon. Naruto watched, somehow transfixed, as the small animal pushed the ball this way and that. Suddenly, the balloon popped, splashing the furry creature with water, sending it fleeing into the forest.

'What the hell just happened?' Naruto thought to himself. Walking over to the demised balloon, he began to inspect the ground around it to see if it was popped on a rock or a twig. He found none. 'So what popped the balloon?' Naruto began to replay what he had just seen in his head.

'The squirrel was just pushing the balloon around in different directions…' he thought as the answer dawned on him. 'So the water in the balloon must have been spinning in different directions too.' He picked up a new balloon, filled it, and began to try again.

'Alright, so spinning the water in just one direction isn't the way to go. But how do I spin it in multiple directions?' He tried to spin his chakra randomly in different directions, but only succeeded in making the balloon vibrate slightly. For the next half hour, Naruto tried fruitlessly to spin his chakra in multiple directions. He stopped himself when he felt himself become frustrated.

'Calm down Naruto,' he told himself, 'just take it slowly.' Instead of trying to immediately spinning his chakra in more than one direction, he started by spinning it in just one direction. Slowly, he began to add a second rotation. It took him a moment, but he eventually was able to sustain both rotations within the balloon. Emboldened by his success, Naruto continued to add more spins to the balloon.

Naruto began to sweat. It was taking all of his focus to rotate the water in multiple directions. 'Without the control I've gained, there's no way I'd have gotten even this far.' Once he obtained enough rotations, he began to spin his chakra faster and faster until…

POP!!

Water soaked his outstretched hand, and Naruto stared at his now empty palm. And as with all of his major accomplishments, Naruto jumped into the air while pumping his fist. "Yatta!" he shouted.

Before he moved on to the next stage of his training, Naruto wanted to make sure he had this stage mastered. Grabbing yet another balloon, he tried to recreate his earlier success. It still took him a short while to spin his chakra properly, but it was definitely faster than his first attempt. As he was going to make another attempt he stopped himself. After thinking to himself for a moment, Naruto switched the balloon to his left hand. It took him a while to calibrate his chakra in his left hand and spin the water correctly, but he eventually got it down.

Naruto continued to alternate the balloons between his hands, trying to speed up the time in which he destroyed a balloon. It still required a lot of focus to create the spin each time. The time it took to destroy the balloon was too long for his liking. Naruto continued to destroy the water balloons that he had brought with him, each time trying to pop it faster than the last. By the time he'd decimated his supply, he was soaked and his hands were shaking. Pushing that much chakra through his hands for that long was bound to have some affects. Naruto decided that it was enough _Rasengan_ training for one day.

Walking to the middle of the field, Naruto put two fingers in his mouth and blew out a loud whistle. In a matter of seconds, his clones had gathered in front of him, each with a scroll in hand. Naruto took a moment to take in his clones' conditions. All of them seemed to be low on energy, but the ones that had the Katon and Raiton jutsus seemed especially haggard. Dispelling the jutsu, he knew the reason why.

Naruto had not expected to learn the elemental jutsu as fast as he had the Fuuton jutsus he learned the week before, but he still had not expected the results of learning these techniques.

The clone practicing the Raiton jutsu experienced very little success. To determine the success of the jutsu, the clone would touch a kunai, and see if the electricity passed on to the metal object. Unfortunately, for most of its time training, the clone could only produce a small spark. It was not as powerful as it should have been, and it was costing him a bit more chakra than he thought it should. The clone seemed to have trouble controlling the eratic energy of lightning. It was nothing like manipulating the wind.

The clone that had the Katon jutsu seemed to have slightly more success. For a while it could only produce a puff of smoke, occasionally burning its throat. Fortunately the damage wasn't great enough to dispel it. The clone was able to blow out a steady stream of fire towards the end of the training, but it still consumed quite a bit of chakra.

The Doton clone actually met with moderate success. It was a bit easier for the clone to gather earth than it was to breathe fire, or use lightening. But the most promising of the elemental jutsu, was Suiton.

While he didn't pick it up quite as fast as Fuuton jutsus, but it was definitely easier than any other element he tried. The clone started near the stream, since it was a large source of water. After a few tries it was able to gather a sizable amount of water fairly easily. To make it more difficult, the clone tried gathering water from the ground. It took a few more tries, but it was able to accomplish the task. Towards the end of the session, the clone had moved on to trying to gather water from the air. It wasn't able to gather a whole lot, but it was definitely improving.

After sorting through all of the memories, Naruto picked up the jutsu scrolls and put them away. The moment he'd put the last of the scrolls into his pocket, he heard someone approaching through the forest. Naruto quickly summoned a few clones that remained hidden from view, just in case it was an unwelcome guest. His fears were unfounded, however, when he saw a pair of pale lavender eyes emerge from the forest.

"Hey Hinata," he said with a grin, "what brings you out to my neck of the woods?"

Hinata blushed prettily when he greeted her. It had been a while since she'd gotten a chance to come to Naruto's training field. This was the first time her schedule had allowed it this week. "H-hello Naruto-kun, I w-was wondering if I could t-train with you today."

Naruto's grin widened. "Of course you can Hinata. How about some sparring." Hinata merely nodded her consent. Both genins walked to the center of the field and faced one another. Naruto slid into the basic academy taijutsu, while Hinata slid into her family's style. Naruto eyed her warily.

'Is that the Jyuuken style? This should be fun.'

Without warning, Naruto darted forward and threw a right jab at her. Although a little startled by his sudden attack, Hinata was able to avoid it easily enough. She sidestepped the punch, and spun to keep Naruto in front of her. Naruto cursed inwardly as his attack missed, but planted his foot and spun around with his leg heading for Hinata's head. Again, she avoided the attack by simply ducking.

And so it went, with Naruto attacking relentlessly and Hinata avoiding or blocking the attacks. But as they continued, Naruto noticed that Hinata didn't seem to be trying to hit him. Any attack she threw at him was always easily avoidable or easily blocked. 'Is she just toying with me, or is she actually afraid of hurting me?' Naruto jumped back to put some distance between the two of them. Hinata gave him a confused look.

"W-what's wrong Naruto-kun?"

"Hinata, do you think I'm weak?" Naruto asked suddenly, his tone not giving anything away.

The question surprised Hinata. "O-Of course not Naruto-kun."

"Then stop holding back. There's no way that you've been attacking me with your full strength."

Hinata began to poke her fingers nervously. "B-But if I attack you like that, you m-might get hurt."

Naruto walked up to the shy girl and grabbed her fingers, pulling her hands to her sides. "You really need to stop doing that. Now, Hinata, what do you think will happen if I get into a real fight, that I'm not going to get hurt. If you don't come at me with everything you've got then you're not helping me or yourself get any stronger."

Hinata was still a little dazed from Naruto grabbing her hands, so it took a moment for his words to sink in. She looked up into his sapphire blue eyes as he continued to speak. "You do want to become a strong leader for your clan, right?" Hinata simply nodded her head. "Then I'll help you, but to do that you have to come at me with everything you've got."

When he finished, Naruto turned and walked away from Hinata. After about ten feet, he stopped and turned to face her. "Are you ready?" he asked as he slipped into a fighting stance. Hinata's head bowed slightly, her hair obscuring her eyes. When she looked up, her eyes shown with the same determination Naruto had seen in so many of the so-called failures of this village. Veins suddenly appeared around her eyes, giving her a very intimidating gaze.

"Hai Naruto-kun," she said as she fell into the Jyuuken stance.

'Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to enjoy this,' Naruto thought to himself. Again, Naruto was the one to make the first move. Leaping into the air, he came at her with an axe kick, which she was able to avoid. Unfortunately for Naruto, that was the last of his offensive attacks, as Hinata quickly put him on the defensive. Her strikes were fast and precise, and Naruto was having a very hard time avoiding them all. Every hit that he attempted to block, the area hit would erupt in pain.

Eventually Hinata struck a point on Naruto's shoulder, and his entire arm went numb. Capitalizing on his handicap, Hinata sent a strong palm thrust into his chest, knocking him off of his feet. The moment he hit the ground, Hinata was immediately by his side.

'Oh Kami, I hurt Naruto-kun. Now he's going to hate me and never train with me again.' "Naruto-kun, are you alright?" The panic was obvious in her voice.

Naruto looked up at the worried girl and gave her a wide grin. "That is how I want you to spar from now on." He pulled himself up to a sitting position, wincing at the pain in his chest and shoulder. "Ow. Just what did you do to me Hinata."

"I-I closed the tenketsu in your shoulder and hit your chest with a burst of chakra."

"Tenketsu?" he said more to himself. During his studies on chakra, Naruto had read about the tenketsu, but they were supposed to be impossible to see. "But how could you have seen the tenketsu to close it off." That's when he noticed that the veins around her eyes had disappeared, and he realized the answer even before she told him.

"My family has a special doujutsu that allows us to see the chakra pathways in a person's body. It's c-called the…"

"Byakugan," Naruto finished. "I read about that, but I didn't really find a whole lot about what it can do. Is seeing the chakra pathways in a persons body the only thing it can do, or does it do more?" asked excitedly.

Hinata giggled at Naruto's enthusiasm. "W-Well, with the Byakugan, I-I can increase my field o-of vision to 360 degrees, and it allows me to even see through objects."

Naruto just looked at her in awe, causing the poor girl to blush brightly. "Wow. So that's why they say the Hyuuga have all seeing eyes." He then thought of the other doujutsu he read about. "Ne, Hinata, do you know anything about the Sharingan?"

Hinata was a little surprised by his question, but realized it must have something to do with his teammate. "H-Hai. Since our clans were once rivals, our library holds quite a bit o-of information on the Uchihas. T-The Sharingan gives the user incredible perception. Someone w-with the Sharingan is able to predict movements, see through genjutsus, and even copy ninjutsu and taijutsu."

'Geez, with eyes like that no wonder everyone thinks the Uchiha are elite ninja. They're born with everything they need inside their head.' "What does it look like?"

"From the p-pictures I've seen, the Sharingan is red with one to three tomoes surrounding the pupil."

"Tomoes?"

"H-Hai, apparently the more tomoes the user has, the sharper their vision is."

Naruto hung his head dejectedly. 'How am I supposed to compete with eyes like that?' Hinata could feel his disappointment and made to comfort him, but froze when he suddenly looked up. Determination filled his eyes, a look she had seen many times before. "Well, it looks like I'm going to have to train even harder to stand up against the Byakugan and the Sharingan." Hinata just smiled. Of course Naruto couldn't be deterred by another challenge. They only made him stronger.

Naruto made to stand up, but Hinata tried to stop him. "N-Naruto-kun, you shouldn't move too quickly, you could still be hurt from our spar."

Naruto just waved her off and smiled. "Nah, don't worry about me Hinata, I recover really fast. In fact, this is the second time I've had my ass handed to me in a sparring match today."

"Second time?" Hinata asked in confusion.

Naruto smiled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I kinda ran into another genin named Lee this morning during my workout. He and his sensei were doing their workout and I agreed to spar with Lee. Turns out the guy's a taijutsu master. I don't think I've ever been so thoroughly outclassed in taijutsu before."

"Lee…" said Hinata, a hint of recognition in her voice. "D-Does he wear green spandex and have large eyebrows?"

"Yes," Naruto said with a shiver. "You know him?"

"N-No, not personally, but he's on m-my cousin Neji's team."

"Your cousin, what's he like?" He regretted asking the question when Hinata's face fell, her expression very sad. "Hinata, what's wrong?"

"N-Nothing," she said as she turned away from him.

"Hinata…" Naruto stood up and placed his hand on her shoulder, turning her to face him. "If there's something wrong, I want to help. After all, that's what friends do, right?" he finished while flashing Hinata a wide smile.

Hinata felt heat rush to her face when Naruto smiled at her, and any reluctance to tell him about her family was washed away. "O-Okay, Naruto-kun. Well, t-to start, you have to understand m-my family…" she started as she explained the separate houses of the Hyuuga, the subjugation of the branch family, and the curse seal. "When I was three years old, a ninja f-from Kumogakure attempted to k-kidnap me during p-peace negotiations." Naruto saw her shake slightly from the memory.

"But why would they want to kidnap you?" Naruto asked.

"B-Because, they were a-after my B-Byakugan. Since I'm p-part of the main family, I had no seal to p-protect it." Hinata's eyes began to water as she continued. "I-I can't remember e-everything that h-happened, b-but I do know that my f-father killed him. Because of that, K-Kumo demanded t-that may father be k-killed in exchange. They were s-still after the Byakugan, but the family elders wouldn't let them. It was for this reason that Hizashi, m-my father's twin and N-Neji-niisan's father, was… he was…" she didn't finish as she shut her eyes to stop the tears.

"Killed instead," Naruto finished as realization dawned on him. Hinata only nodded as a few tears made their way down her cheeks. Naruto sat next to her and placed his arm around her shoulder. He wasn't really sure how to comfort someone, as no one had ever comforted him, so he just did what came naturally. It must have been the right thing to do, because Hinata forgot about her shyness for the moment and buried her head into his shoulder as she cried out.

It took a few minutes for her sobs to subside, but when they did she continued while her head still remained on his shoulder. "F-From that day f-forward, Neji has been cold and hateful towards the main family, especially me." Hinata spoke the last part of the sentence very quietly, but Naruto still heard her. "That's why my dream is to become a g-good clan head, to get rid of the curse seal and unite the families."

"Hinata…" he said to get her attention. Hinata looked up into his bright blue eyes, and finally realized their close proximity. In the blink of an eye she had removed herself from Naruto's shoulder and scooted several feet away, blushing like mad. Naruto blinked at her sudden disappearance, then chuckled slightly. But he soon quieted down and looked into her pale eyes. "Hinata, I'm sure you'll become a good clan head. And when I become Hokage I'll do everything in my power to help you with your clan."

Hinata couldn't help but smile at Naruto's words. Dusting himself off, Naruto jumped to his feet. "Well, I'm up for another spar, how 'bout you Hinata?" Hinata was a little surprised by this statement. The wounds she inflicted weren't serious by any means, but it should still take a couple hours to get over. She quietly activated her Byakugan to get a look at his wounds from earlier. The chest wound was healed and chakra was flowing normally in his arm. As if he read her mind Naruto said, "I told you, I heal fast."

Hinata could only nod before she too climbed to her feet. Walking into position, she slid into the Jyuuken stance. Naruto grinned widely at her, but instead of going into his own stance he placed his fingers in a cross-shaped seal. "Since you're not holding back anymore, I guess I won't either. _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_."

For the next couple of hours, Naruto and Hinata continued to spar. Naruto's number of clones and their teamwork were more than enough to keep Hinata on her toes. Having to keep an eye on all of the clones was definitely giving her Byakugan a workout. But Naruto's freakish stamina won out in the match, Hinata just couldn't keep her Byakugan activated that long while also utilizing the Jyuuken.

Hinata collapsed onto her knees panting heavily. Naruto limped up to the exhausted girl, himself breathing very hard. "That… was… awesome," Naruto panted out with a grin. He plopped himself down next to Hinata, allowing both of them to catch their breath. After a few minutes Naruto and Hinata's breathing leveled out, although Hinata's muscles still felt like jelly.

While he was relaxing, Naruto felt a pull on his conscience. He recognized the feeling as one of his clones preparing to dismiss itself. It took him a moment to remember why there would still be clones around, but he finally recalled summoning a pair when he heard Hinata approaching. Not sure as to why they hadn't dispelled themselves earlier, Naruto waited for the memories to come.

The clone's memories were interesting to say the least. It turns out that the clones had decided to stick around to watch the sparring match between the two genin. One clone focused on Naruto, examining his own style and thinking up possible ways to improve it. It also watched the clone's interaction with the original, and tried to come up with some different tactics for them to use. Overall it was a surreal experience, to just watch yourself from someone else's perspective.

The second clone focused completely on Hinata. It observed her taijutsu style, trying to pick apart certain details. Its strengths, weaknesses, but mostly how well Hinat used it. Technically her form was flawless. She had an almost perfect blend of offense and defense. Her strikes were fast and precise, almost always hitting her mark. But there was something off about that the clone couldn't quite place. She seemed too stiff, like her movements didn't occur naturally for her.

Hinata looked at Naruto as he seemed to drift off for a moment. "N-Naruto-kun, are you okay?"

Naruto shook himself out of his daze. "Yeah, I'm alright. I just remembered that I left some clones out while we were sparring, and they had an interesting perspective of it."

"What do you mean Naruto-kun?" Naruto began to recap what the clones had seen, even his theories on her style. Hinata's head sagged as he finished. "So I'll never be as good at Jyuuken as the rest of my family."

"That's not what I meant. Someone once told me that to truly master a style that you have to make it your own, to match you specifically. If you can figure out how to do that, then I have no doubt that you'd become even better in taijutsu."

Hinata mulled what Naruto had just said in her head. Again she was surprised by Naruto's insight. "D-Do you really think I c-can do it, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto grinned as he replied. "Absolutely Hinata-chan." Hinata stared wide-eyed at Naruto, too stunned to even blush. It took a moment for Naruto to realize exactly what he said. 'Did I just call Hinata '-chan?' Well… it does fit more than it did Sakura.'

Meanwhile, Hinata seemed to regain control of her mental faculties. 'Chan, CHAN, he called me Hinata-chan. Don't faint, don't faint, don't faint…'

Naruto suddenly became very nervous that he said the wrong thing. "Uh, well, is it alright if I call you 'chan' Hinata? I mean, we are friends after all." Unable to respond verbally, Hinata only nodded her consent. But this simple gesture brought out a wide smile to Naruto's face. Silence fell between the two for a moment, but it was broken by Naruto… or at least his stomach.

Naruto blushed slightly when his stomach growled loudly. Hinata couldn't help but giggle. "Hehe, gomen Hinata-chan, I missed out on lunch today so I guess I'm kinda hungry."

Hinata blushed when he called her 'chan' again. "I-It's okay N-Naruto-kun, I-I don't mind."

An idea suddenly popped into Naruto's head. "Ne, Hinata-chan, do want to get some ramen with me? My treat."

If Hinata was red before, now she was positively glowing. 'D-Did Naruto-kun just ask me out on a date?' Fighting to stay conscious, Hinata gave her reply. "H-Hai N-Naruto-kun, th-that sounds n-nice." Naruto smiled as he jumped to his feet while offering a hand to Hinata. Hinata timidly accepted the hand and tried to stand, but her legs buckled under her. Naruto was quick to catch her and gently set back on the ground.

"I guess you're still a little tired from our spar," Naruto said with a smile.

"G-Gomen, Naruto-kun," Hinata said while inwardly cursing her own weakness.

"Don't worry about it Hinata-chan. But we aren't going to make it back to the village if you can't walk," Naruto said before a mischievous grin spread across his face. "Unless…" Before she could react, Naruto had picked up Hinata and positioned her so she was hanging from his back.

"N-Naruto-kun! W-What are you doing!?"

"Well, since you can't walk right now, I figured I'd give you a lift back to Konoha." Without warning, Naruto took off in the direction of the village, causing Hinata to squeak in surprise.

When they reached the gates to Konoha, Hinata was hair threatened to catch on fire. She had actually fainted a few times on their way through the forest, but Naruto's constant jostling woke her up fairly quickly. Now that they were about to enter the village, Hinata thought it best to walk on her own. She'd probably die of embarrassment if others saw her being carried around by her crush.

"A-Ano, Naruto-kun, I think I can walk on my own now."

Naruto stopped walking and turned his head to look at his passenger. "Alright, as long as you're sure Hinata-chan." Naruto knelt to the ground to allow Hinata off. She wobbled slightly when she touched the ground, but remained standing. Standing to help steady his friend, Naruto smiled as they continued their trek to Ichiraku's

"Hey Teuchi," Naruto shouted as he entered the ramen stand with Hinata in tow.

"Eh, what's it going to be today Naruto?" said Teuchi while still facing away from the entrance while he stirred the ingredients of a boiling pot. Naruto and Hinata took a seat at the counter just as Ayame came out from back. She immediately took notice of Hinata and her face split into a cheshire grin. "Hello Naruto-kun, and who's your pretty friend here."

Hinata blushed brightly at Ayame's words, but this went unnoticed by Naruto, who just grinned at the ramen girl. "Hey Ayame-neechan. This is Hyuuga Hinata, she's a friend of mine who's been helping me with my training."

Ayame studied Hinata for a moment before flashing a knowing smirk, which made the shy girl blush all the more. "Well Hinata-san, it is very nice to meet you." She then pulled out a note pad with a pencil. "Now, what would you two like to order?"

Naruto took on a thoughtful expression. "Eh, I think I'll start with a miso ramen today." He then turned to his guest, "What about you Hinata-chan?"

"A-Ano, I'll h-have a bowl of b-beef ramen, please." Ayame smiled at the pair as she went to prepare their meal. Shortly after Ayame left, Teuchi approached the pair. "I was wondering when you were going to show up today Naruto. Now, are you going to introduce me to your little friend here?"

Naruto grabbed two pairs of chopsticks and handed one pair off to Hinata before answering Teuchi. "Well Teuchi, this is Hyuuga Hinata. Hinata-chan, this old man is Teuchi."

**(Thwap)**

"Ow, what was that for Teuchi?" Naruto asked while rubbing the bump on his head, eying the large wooden spoon in the ramen chef's hand.

"That's for not showing proper respect to your elders, especially one as wise, great, and handsome as this humble ramen chef," Teuchi said while striking a pose.

Naruto just snorted at the man. "Wise and handsome, yeah right. You're just a wrinkly old man who likes to smack people in the head with your spoon."

"But I'm still a great ramen chef, eh."

Naruto paused in his rant before shrugging his shoulders. "What can I say; you're a man who knows his ramen."

Teuchi just laughed at Naruto. "And don't you forget it." He then turned to a bewildered Hinata. "Well Hyuuga-san, I formally welcome you to Ichiraku Ramen, home to the best ramen in Konoha," Teuchi finished with a bow.

Hinata giggled at the man's behavior. "H-Hello Teuchi-san, i-it's very nice to m-meet you."

Teuchi smiled broadly at the girl, and then turned to glare at Naruto. "See, you could learn something from your friend Naruto. She knows how to be respectful to others."

"That's just because she doesn't know you like I do." Naruto had to duck another smack with Teuchi's spoon. Teuchi shook his head in exasperation before turning back to the boiling pots.

Ayame returned with the ordered ramen and placed it in front of the customers. "Enjoy your meal you two."

"Thanks Ayame-neechan," Naruto said while grabbing a pair of chopsticks and passing another to Hinata. They proceeded to dig into their ramen, although Naruto did so with a bit more gusto than Hinata.

While they ate, the pair exchanged small talk. Naruto began to notice that Hinata's stutter seemed to lessen the more he talked to her. Though, she did still blush whenever he seemed to look at her too intently, or if they ever came into any kind of physical contact. Despite that, Naruto found that enjoyed talking with her. He didn't really need to worry about her reacting violently to something he said, unlike most females in his class.

When they finished their meal, Naruto had polished off five bowls while Hinata only finished one and a half. She was too full to finish the second bowl, but Naruto was more than happy to finish it for her. Hinata was surprised by the amount of ramen Naruto was able to put away, but was even more surprised when Ayame told her that he normally ate quite a bit more. Naruto put down the money for the bill on the counter, and he and Hinata got up to leave.

"Thanks for the ramen Teuchi, Ayame-neechan." Naruto turned toward his companion. "Heh, this was fun Hinata-chan, maybe next we can go to a place you like."

Hinata blushed when he said this. 'Did he just ask me out again?' She glanced towards Teuchi and Ayame to see Teuchi with a raised eyebrow and Ayame with a wide grin on her face.

"Well, you probably need to be getting home. I guess I'll see you later Hinata-chan."

Ayame smacked her forehead while Teuchi just shook his head. "Offer to walk her home you baka," Ayame said.

Naruto just gave a confused look to the stand's proprietors. "Huh, what for? Hinata's strong enough to take care of herself. Trust me, I know," he said while rubbing a spot on his shoulder.

Ayame had to suppress a frustrated growl. "That's not the point; it's just polite to offer."

Naruto continued to hold his confused expression, while Hinata's blush increased tenfold. "A-Ano, I c-can make m-my way home j-just fine, th-thank you."

Naruto turned to his friend with a smile. "Okay Hinata-chan, I'll see you later then. Ja ne."

"Goodbye, Naruto-kun." Both genin smiled at one another and went their separate ways. Ayame and Teuchi watched the young friends leave with fond smiles on their faces.

"So, what do you think of our favorite customer's new friend," Teuchi asked his daughter.

Ayame looked thoughtful for a moment before replying. "She's a cutie; a little shy, but I can tell she likes him. I'm just wondering when he's gonna figure it out."

"I'm not sure about that, but hopefully he'll be bringing her around more often. It's good for business," Teuchi said with a grin.

Ayame gave her father a stern look. "I hope you realize that I'm counting this as their first date, so Naruto can take her anywhere he likes from now on." Teuchi's grin vanished when he realized she was still mad about his and Naruto's little agreement. With a nervous laugh, Teuchi went back to making ramen. Ayame decided to put her retribution on her swindling father on hold while she turned her musings towards a more constructive project. 'Now, how to get Naruto-kun and Hinata-san together? Ooh this is going to be fun.'

* * *

AN: I hope you liked this chapter. I know I've been going kind of slow in the progression of the story, but trust me when I say it's worth it. Fortunately, the next chapter is one that I know a lot of you have been waiting for. That's right, the Wave Country Arc is coming. 

_Kaji Kokyuu no Jutsu_: Fire Breath Technique

_Gyazamizu no Jutsu_: Water Gathering Technique

_Mineraru Kori no Jutsu_: Mineral Hardening Technique

_Shockkingu Tezawari no Jutsu_: Shocking Touch Technique

Please let me know if my translations are right.


	7. Against the Tide

AN: I'd like to apologize for taking my sweet ass time to update this story. Sorry, my bad. I could list off several reasons as to why the update was late... so I will.

a.) My professors really started piling on work lately b.) I developed a slight case of writer's block c.) My laptop has been acting up d.) Aliens abducted me

(Note: If you can tell which excuse is fake, then good for you)

* * *

Chapter 7: Into Wave 

Whirlpool Country, 22 years ago…

"So tell me why we're here again, Jiraiya-sensei?" asked a blonde-haired teenager. He wore black pants and a white long sleeved shirt with blue stripes running down the length of his arms. Over this he wore the standard Konoha chuunin vest. His question was directed at his white-haired companion.

Jiraiya let out a sigh. "I told you Minato, there have been reports of increased Iwa-nin activity in this country and we have to investigate."

"I know that, but why are we here? I really wanted to see how well Jin and Teru would do in the chuunin exams," complained Minato, who had attained the rank of chuunin the previous year. His teammates hadn't quite made the grade during the last exam, but were currently trying again with a different teammate.

"So would I, but our forces are spread kind of thin, so we have to go where we're needed the most." Although his point was valid, Minato couldn't help but notice that Jiraiya seemed a little too excited about this mission. When he thought of everything he knew of the Whirlpool Country he came to a conclusion.

"You know… I hear that the Whirlpool Country is pretty well known for its bath-houses and hot springs," Minato said innocently.

Jiraiya began to sweat lightly and laugh nervously. "Really, you don't say. Well I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take in the sights while we're here."

Minato sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Please tell me we didn't accept this mission just because you're a pervert."

"Of course not," said an offended sounding Jiraiya. But a lecherous grin spread across his face. "Being a pervert was just a bonus." Minato could only shake his head at his sensei. In all his life, Minato had never known anyone who was actually proud to be considered a pervert. And the one man who did just happened to be his teacher.

Jiraiya's face grew serious as he walked. "Sandaime-sama is worried about the movements of Iwagakure. They've been gathering their forces and stock piling supplies for something. It looks like they may be preparing for a war. That's why we're in Whirlpool, to see why they've been spotted around here."

"Do you think Iwa's planning an invasion?"

"I do… and the ninja of the Whirlpool Country have neither the skill nor the numbers to repel them." Minato could only nod his head in agreement. Whirlpool was not a large or wealthy country. The ninja that it did produce normally weren't quite up to the standards of the ninja of the great shinobi nations. The only reason that they would be a target for Iwa is because its location allowed for easy access to the other nations.

"Well, I guess this will be the perfect opportunity to try out my new jutsu," Minato said with a grin.

"Right, and I suppose that this is the same amazing jutsu that you've been working on for the past three years?" Jiraiya said in an unimpressed voice.

"Mock all you want Jiraiya-sensei, but once you see this jutsu you'll be begging me to teach it to you."

"Sure I will gaki, sure I will," said Jiraiya, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

It was noon before Minato and Jiraiya entered Whirlpool's largest village. The village housed not only the shinobi population, but the country's daimyo as well. It didn't take long to find the shinobi headquarters of the village, where they would receive information from the village's leading ninja.

Uzumaki Yuudai was a solidly built man, with dark red hair and beard. He had led the shinobi forces of Whirlpool for years, his own skill probably on par with some of the elite jounin of Konoha. But he knew the limit of his ability and those of the ninja under his command. So when he heard reports of Iwa-nin in his country, he knew that they would need help. This is why he employed the services of the two ninja before him.

"Jiraiya-san, it is good to see you again," Yuudai said as he extended his hand to the white-haired man.

"It's good to see you again too Yuudai-san." Dropping the man's hand Jiraiya gestured to the blonde youth beside him. "This is my apprentice, Namikaze Minato."

Yuudai seemed to appraise Minato for a moment. If Minato was uncomfortable under the man's gaze, he didn't show it. Finally, after a minute or two, Yuudai smiled broadly and slapped his hand on Minato's shoulder. "Well, it is nice to meet you Minato-kun. If you're good enough for Jiraiya to take you on as an apprentice, then I have no doubt that I'll be hearing good things about you in the future." With that Yuudai went back behind his desk and took a seat. Jiraiya and Minato took the chairs across from him.

"So what's the situation Yuudai?" asked Jiraiya, his expression turning serious.

"There have been sightings of Iwa-nin near the border. From the sound of it, they seem to just be scouting parties for now. I believe that they are trying to find weakness in our defenses in order to take us over quickly and quietly." Yuudai paused to gauge the reactions of the two Konoha shinobi. Jiraiya was nodding his head in agreement to Yuudai's theory while Minato took on a contemplative look.

At length, Jiraiya spoke. "So we need to capture one of the scouts and get whatever information we can about the plan's of Iwa."

Yuudai nodded. "That's the plan."

"Are we going to have any support?" asked Minato.

"Yes, two of our shinobi will be joining you for this mission." When he finished his sentence, the door opened and a single male chuunin a few years older than Minato entered. Yuudai gave him a slightly confused look. "Daiki, where is Kushina?" Before Daiki could reply, a small smoke bomb went off by his feet, obscuring the doorway.

Immediately, Jiraiya and Minato were on their feet with kunai drawn. But when they looked back at Yuudai they saw that instead of wearing an expression of worry or alarm, he wore one of annoyance. Their attention was drawn back to the doorway when a voice called out, "Introducing, the most talented kunoichi in all of Whirlpool…" The smoke began to clear, revealing a kunoichi about the same age as Minato with fiery red hair that went down to her shoulders. A katana was strapped to her back while her arms were crossed in front of her body in a pose. "…Uzumaki Kushina."

Jiraiya and Minato were stunned. Yuudai had his face in his hands, embarrassed by the girl's behavior. It took a full minute for anyone of them to speak. "Wow," said Minato as he turned to his sensei, "that was almost as weird as one of your introductions, ero-sensei." Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched at his student's nickname for him, while Kushina's eyebrow twitched at being called weird.

"Hey, who are you calling weird blondie?" Kushina growled while glaring at him.

"I believe that would be the loud redhead standing in front of me," Minato said with a grin. Kushina growled and started to advance on the blonde, but was barely held back by her teammate.

Yuudai cleared his throat to gain the attention of the room's occupants. "If everyone has had enough fun, I believe that you all have a mission to get to. And Kushina, stop trying to kill Minato-kun."

Kushina stopped struggling against Daiki's grasp as she looked back Yuudai. "Fine, tou-san," she said with a pout.

Jiraiya chuckled at the girl. "Well, this should definitely be an interesting mission."

* * *

Naruto awoke from his dream when his alarm clock went off. After turning off the alarm he just lay in bed for a little longer, reflecting on his dream. A few days ago, Sarutobi had called Naruto into his office for a private meeting. To his great joy, Naruto found that Sarutobi wanted to take the time to tell Naruto about his parents. It seemed that some of the Sandaime's stories found their way into Naruto's dreams. 

Pulling himself out of bed, Naruto sluggishly made his way to the bathroom to relieve himself. He wasn't really looking forward to another day of boring D-rank missions. After taking care of business, he stood in front of the mirror, looking at his bandaged hands. Slowly, he removed the gauze from his palms and once again inspected their condition. The burns had healed nicely, but he still felt a bit of soreness in his digits. Once again, Naruto told himself that the training and the pain were worth it.

Naruto had begun the second stage of training for the _Rasengan_ about two weeks ago. He didn't want to start it until he felt he had completely mastered the first, which required him destroying two balloons simultaneously with one in each hand. Ever since he had begun the second stage, Naruto found that it was indeed much more difficult than the first. About a hundred times more difficult. Air required much more power to spin sufficiently, and since the ball was a thicker rubber than the balloons, destroying it would also take much more chakra. It was definitely slow going. Only just a few days ago did he finally manage to rupture the rubber ball with a small hole, but he still couldn't completely pop it. And all of this training was taking its toll on Naruto's body.

Because of the sheer amount of chakra that Naruto had to pump out of his hand to just puncture the ball, he began to suffer from chakra burns on his hands shortly after beginning the training. Normally he was able to recover after a night's rest, but the more he pushed it the longer it took to heal. In order to hide the affects of his training from is teammates Naruto began to wear fingerless gloves to cover his charred palms. His teammates mistook this for him trying to emulate their sensei. Unfortunately, his sparring partner was a bit harder to fool.

Hinata knew something was bothering him very quickly. When they sparred, Naruto had his clones do most of the attacking, and when the original did attack, he favored using his legs instead of his hands. After she activated her Byakugan she was able to see that Naruto's hands were suffering from extensive chakra burns. It didn't take long for Naruto to come clean that his new training was having some negative side-affects, although he wasn't very forthcoming as to what that training was.

It took a solid half-hour for Naruto to convince Hinata that he didn't need to go to the hospital. Instead, Hinata pulled out a first-aid kit and a small jar of healing balm. Handing the supplies over to Naruto, she told him that if he was going to continue his training, then he should at least take care of himself afterwards.

Naruto smiled at the jar he now held in his hands. It really was a godsend. Naruto was still amazed by just how affective it was and the fact that Hinata made it herself. It sterilized the wound, cooled inflammation, and helped to increase healing speed. Couple that with Naruto's natural recovery rate, and the burns or any injury he'd accumulate in a day of training would be gone by the next morning. And with his other training activities, he was eternally grateful for it.

After putting on his training clothes and grabbing some breakfast, Naruto headed out for his morning workout. Along with the _Rasengan,_ Naruto had continued his morning training with Lee and Gai-sensei. Because of his short stature, Gai stressed the importance of Naruto increasing his speed to move inside the reach of a larger opponent. Due to the extreme proximity, Gai taught Naruto to make use of his elbows and knees in order to land hard blows without the space to fully extend his limbs. Still, Gai encouraged Naruto to add new aspects to his taijutsu to increase its affectiveness. His speed and strength were growing with each day, along with his overall skill. And, unsurprisingly, Naruto eyes began to track fast moving objects more easily than before. He'd have to in order to avoid Lee's punches and kicks.

His training was hard work, but it still beat the hell out of the laughable missions he'd gotten so far. Gai and Lee wouldn't be joining him for his morning workout today since they were away from the village on a mission. But Naruto still used their training field since it would be empty. Just before Naruto reached Gai and Lee's training field, he sent a silent prayer to Kami. 'No more D-rank missions.'

* * *

'Kami hates me,' Naruto thought glumly while staring daggers at Tora, or as she had was known amongst the genin, 'Feline from Hell.' This was the seventh time his team had retrieved this cat, and every time Naruto was the one that actually had to catch it. But Tora refused to go without a fight, earning Naruto several nasty scratches. But justice was served in the form of Tora's overly affectionate owner. 

Team 7 was interrupted from the entertaining sight of Tora being crushed when the Sandaime cleared his throat. "Well, since you finished your mission early today, you can choose from the remaining D-rank missions. Let's see… there's weed picking, potato planting or…"

"Tora, no, come back sweetie."

"... you can catch Tora again." The genin of team 7 groaned. They were all getting sick and tired of these missions. Sasuke felt that his natural talents were being wasted by such ridiculous assignments. Sakura just didn't like seeing Sasuke upset, and Naruto was just ready for a new challenge. And he was going to let Sarutobi know that.

"No," Naruto said in an even voice.

Sarutobi gave him a confused look. "No?"

"No," Naruto said a bit louder.

"What do you mean Naruto?" asked Iruka.

"I mean no. No more trash detail, no more landscaping, and definitely no more catching that damn cat!" Naruto took a moment to calm himself before he went into full rant mode. "Listen, I just think it's time that we get a more challenging mission." Of course this didn't sit well with Iruka, who went into lecture mode about mission rankings and what ninja are allowed to go on them. Naruto had tuned him out after a few seconds, having read about this during his visits to the library. He was brought back to reality by Iruka's shouts.

"Naruto. Naruto! Are you even paying attention to me?" shouted an irritated Iruka.

"Huh, you say something Iruka-sensei?" Naruto grinned when Iruka's eyebrow began to twitch. "Just kidding Iruka-sensei, but come on… An academy student could do these missions and you know it. How are we supposed to gain battle experience from walking dogs or chasing cats around?" Iruka sputtered for a moment, he really didn't have a good answer for that. Just when he was about form a coherent sentence, Sarutobi made a gesture to forestall him.

Chuckling, the Sandaime turned his attention back to Team 7. Taking a long draw on his pipe, he looked contemplative as he exhaled. Finally, he smiled and grabbed a scroll with a "C" on it. "All right, I think I have just the mission for you."

"Really, what is it?" Naruto asked, practically bouncing with excitement.

"You'll be escorting someone back to their country." Sarutobi reached for the intercom on his desk. "Send him in." Team 7 turned to the door as the client entered. He was an older man with a grey beard and straw hat. He also smelled heavily of alcohol and carried a saki bottle.

The man took a look at Team 7 and frowned. "What's this, you've got a bunch of kids guarding me? Are they even ninja? They look a little green to me. Especially the blonde one with the stupid face." As he finished this sentence, the saki bottle he was holding shattered, courtesy of a kunai from an irate Naruto.

Kakashi let out a sigh as he rapped his knuckles on top of Naruto's head. "Idiot, you can't threaten the client that we're supposed to protect."

Naruto pouted at his sensei. "Fine," then muttering under his breath, "It's not like the drunk needs any more alcohol."

"What was that Naruto," said Kakashi.

"Hehe, nothing sensei, nothing at all," Naruto replied nervously.

Sarutobi cleared his to gain the room's attention. "Yes, this is Tazuna, and your mission will be to escort him to the Wave Country so he can oversee the construction of his bridge there. After you've reached Wave, you will continue to guard Tazuna-san until the bridge is completed."

Tazuna recovered from the shock of losing his saki bottle to interject at this point. Drawing himself up to look more important than he really was, he addressed Team 7. "That's right, I'm the super awesome bridge builder Tazuna. I expect all of you to do your best to protect me."

"Don't worry Tazuna-san," Kakashi said. "Even though they have just been recently promoted, they are skilled enough to offer you the protection you need." He then turned to his students. "Alright, we meet by the south gate in two hours, and make sure you pack for a long trip." Pulling out his little orange book, Kakashi smiled at the genin as he said "Ja ne" and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Team 7 left shortly after to prepare for their mission.

It didn't take long for Naruto to reach his apartment and begin packing. Of course he grabbed the essentials for camping and traveling, his ninja gear and a few packets of ramen. He also grabbed a few rubber balls so he could continue his practice for the _Rasengan_ whenever he got the chance. As he finished packing, Naruto thought of something. He walked to his bedroom and pried a loose board from the floor. Underneath it was an ornate box with a red spiral on the lid.

The box had been a gift from the Sandaime when he was younger and Naruto used it to store his most precious items. They were mostly sentimental mementos, like pictures with the Sandaime, Iruka-sensei, or the Ichiraku family. He also kept all of the notes he had received from his mysterious benefactor, who had been strangely silent as of late. But his most precious item happened to be the only piece of evidence that he had ever had a real family; his father's scroll.

Naruto picked up the scroll and placed it in his side pouch. He didn't feel comfortable leaving something so important behind while he was outside of the village. It had been years since any of the villagers had attempted to break into his apartment, but with him gone they might feel a little daring. Naruto couldn't risk the scroll being found or damaged. It was just too important.

Once he had everything packed and ready, Naruto decided to go to Ichiraku for a celebratory bowl of ramen. After all, it was his very first C-rank mission. It was only a short time later that Naruto was seen bounding into the little ramen stand. "Hey Teuchi, guess what," Naruto said as he sat in his favorite stool.

"You've finally convinced Hokage-sama to make ramen the official dish of Konoha, and I'm going to become wealthy beyond all imagination?" Teuchi asked in a hopeful tone.

"Not quite, but don't worry, I'm sure the old man will crack one of these days," Naruto said in a completely serious tone.

Teuchi nodded while taking on a very sage-like posture. "Yes, the sooner the whole world is exposed to the wonders of ramen, the sooner its incredible affects will bring piece to the shinobi nations."

"All hail the mighty ramen," Naruto said while bowing to the ramen stand.

Ayame snickered at the pair's antics. After she got her giggles under control she walked over to Naruto with a bowl of pork ramen. "So Naruto-kun, what was it that you wanted to tell us?"

"Oh yeah, I just got my first C-rank mission. I leave for it in a little over an hour, and I might be gone for a month or two. So I decided to grab some of the greatest ramen in the world before I hit the road."

Ayame smiled at his news. "Good for you Naruto-kun, just be careful."

"Yeah," Teuchi said, "we don't need our best customer getting himself killed on a mission. Who's going to keep this place afloat if that happens?"

"Don't worry about me," Naruto said with a grin. "It's going to take a lot more than some C-rank mission to take down the great Uzumaki Naruto." The next couple of minutes were spent in relative silence as Naruto polished off a few bowls of ramen. Once he finished, he paid his bill and chatted with the ramen stand family.

"So, Naruto-kun, have you said goodbye to any of your friends yet?" asked Ayame, with one certain friend in mind.

"Huh… no, why?"

"Well, I'm sure your friends would want to know that you're going to be gone for a while."

"Oh, I guess you're right," said Naruto. He then began to think of the people who would care that he was gone, which was sadly a very select few. He knew Lee and his team would be gone for the rest of the week because of a mission they had been assigned to the day before. Konohamaru was on a survival training exercise with Ebisu, meaning he was camping for the next couple of days. So that left only one person, the first person Naruto would have looked for anyways.

Naruto stood up from his stool to leave. "See ya later, I'm gonna go see if I can't find Hinata-chan."

Teuchi and Ayame grinned widely at this. "Okay Naruto-kun, we'll see you when you get back," said Ayame.

"Yeah, and say hello to your girlfriend for us when you see her," Teuchi said.

Naruto growled at the old ramen chef. "How many times have I told you, she's not my girlfriend. She's just a friend who happens to be a girl."

Teuchi's smile widened. "That's what I said; you don't have to be so defensive about it."

Naruto just glared at Teuchi for a moment. "Whatever, I've gotta go. I'll see you guys once I'm done with my mission," he said while exiting the ramen stand.

Ever since he'd brought Hinata to Ichiraku, Teuchi took every chance he could to tease Naruto about it. It was really beginning to irritate him. Ayame didn't tease him about it, but she did act a little strangely whenever she saw the pair together. She was always throwing them weird smiles or whispering conspiratively with her father.

Naruto remembered an incident the week before when he and Hinata dropped by Ichiraku Ramen for a bite. When they sat down to order their meal, Ayame walked up to them and told them that none of their small bowls were clean. Instead, she made the suggestion of the pair sharing an extra large bowl of ramen. Of course, Naruto didn't see a problem with this and agreed. Hinata turned as red as a tomato, but agreed anyway. Naruto actually enjoyed himself, although he did have to cut back on his ramen intake so Hinata could have a chance to eat.

Right after the pair left, Naruto ran back after forgetting his wallet, Gama-chan. When he got there, he saw Ayame serve up a regular sized bowl to a customer. Immediately, Naruto began to question the ramen girl. Ayame suddenly became nervous, and instead of answering the blonde, she claimed that she was far to busy to talk and began to work on preparing food in the back of the stand, rather loudly. She didn't stop until Naruto gave up and left.

Naruto pushed the thoughts of the ramen family's odd behavior out of his mind for the moment. He needed to find Hinata before he left for his mission.

* * *

Hinata and her teammates were just finishing up with their own mission. A little boy named Mao had wandered away from his mother while she was shopping and had been lost for several hours. Fortunately, because of Team 8's tracking specialty, they found the boy quickly after being given the mission. They found him playing by a small stream near the forest surrounding Konoha. 

At first the boy was mistrustful of the genin. He thought Shino was creepy and that Kiba was loud, annoying, and smelled like a dog. Mao didn't quite know what to think about Hinata, but that changed when she actually spoke to him. She was very sweet and kind, so it didn't take long for the boy to warm up to her. So when the team returned to the village to take Mao home, he was leading Hinata by the hand, excitedly asking her about what being a shinobi was like.

"Ne, Hinata-san, is being a ninja really dangerous? How many missions have you been on? Do you know any cool ninja techniques? How many bad guys have you beaten up?" The members of Team 8 were astonished that the boy could ask so many questions without stopping for a breath. Hinata giggled at his behavior though, it reminded her of a certain excitable blonde.

Speaking of excitable blondes, "Hinata-chan!" Hinata looked down the road to see Naruto running towards her and her team. Shino raised an eyebrow at the blonde's sudden appearance while Kiba's face held a look of utter confusion. Hinata blushed slightly when Naruto arrived, but gave him a warm smile.

Naruto grinned at seeing Hinata smile. He couldn't really explain it, but whenever she smiled at him he felt different. Better, lighter even. He didn't know why, all he knew was that he liked to see her smile.

Hinata felt a tug on her sleeve and turned to see Mao looking at her questioningly. "Hinata-san, who's that?" he asked while pointing at Naruto. Before she could answer, Naruto slid to a stop in front of the group.

"Hey Hinata-chan," Naruto said with a grin. "I'm glad I found you." Mao looked at Naruto suspiciously, not quite sure what to make of him yet.

"H-Hello Naruto-kun," Hinata replied. "Ano, why were you looking for me?"

"Yeah, we're in the middle of a mission loser," Kiba said.

"Huh, did you say something dog breath?" Naruto asked, as if he had just noticed his presence. 'I guess I learned more from Kakashi-sensei than I thought.' Kiba was about to lash out at the blond, but the arm of his silent teammate stayed him. Naruto turned his attention back to Hinata. "So what's your mission?"

"We have to escort Mao-kun here back home," Hinata said while gesturing to the boy beside her.

Naruto looked at the boy and grinned. "What's up Mao, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I hope you haven't been causing too much trouble for Hinata-chan and her team."

Mao took on an indignant look. "No way, Hinata-san is way too good of a ninja for me to cause her trouble."

Naruto's grin widened at the boy's statement, while Hinata blushed a little. "Well, I can't argue with you there. I've trained with her, so I should know." Now Hinata was practically glowing from the praise she was receiving from Mao and Naruto.

Shino and Kiba raised their eyebrows at this. Kiba leaned closer to the bug user to whisper. "Since when did Hinata-chan start training with that baka?" Shino gave no audible response, but continued to observe the blond haired shinobi and his teammate.

Hinata fought down her blush and turned the conversation away from herself. "Ano, Naruto-kun, you wanted to tell me something?"

"Oh yeah," Naruto mentally scolded himself for letting his mind wander. "I wanted to tell you that I'm going to be away from the village for a month or two. My team was just assigned a C-rank mission and I just wanted to let you know so you don't have to wonder where I am."

"WHAT!" came Kiba's outraged cry. "Why would they give a dobe like you a C-rank mission and not us?"

Naruto took on a mock thoughtful pose before replying. "Because I don't smell like a dog?" Kiba face faulted while Shino developed a small sweat drop on the back of his head. Hinata and Mao were trying to stifle giggles at Naruto's answer.

Hinata calmed herself before looking to Naruto. "Congratulations Naruto-kun. When d-do you leave?" she asked, a little hopeful that they had time to spend time together.

Naruto glanced at his watch and his eyes widened slightly. "I need to meet my team at the south gate in little over half an hour, I gotta go."

Hinata's head drooped a little in disappointment. But she shook it off and looked up with a smile. "O-Okay Naruto-kun. Please be careful."

Naruto gave her a warm smile that made her cheeks color. "Alright Hinata-chan, but you don't need to worry about me, I'll be fine." Naruto then spoke to her and her teammates as a whole. "I guess I'll see you guys later." Before he turned to leave, he kneeled to Mao's level to whisper in his ear. "Make sure the mutt doesn't do anything stupid… and keep an eye on Akamaru too." Mao began to laugh, causing Kiba to raise an eyebrow, since it was directed at him. Figuring that Naruto was badmouthing him, Kiba turned to yell at the blond, but only to find that he was already gone.

Hinata stood for a long moment, staring in the direction that Naruto had gone. 'Please, stay safe Naruto-kun, for me.' She turned back to her team and they continued their mission.

* * *

Team 7 had been traveling along the road to the Wave Country for several days. So far, the trip had been quite uneventful. When they camped they set up shifts to keep watch until morning, and then continue on to Wave. Currently Sakura was walking to the left of Tazuna, Naruto to the right, while Sasuke took point. Behind them Kakashi strolled casually with his little orange book in hand. 

Sakura had spent the first couple of hours trying to get Sasuke to talk to her. Her attempts were as fruitless as ever, so she turned to Tazuna and began to ask him about his homeland. The bookworm side of her reemerged as Tazuna told her about Wave Country. Kakashi occasionally put in his two cents.

Sasuke continued walked in the front of the group with an air of superiority, though in the past few weeks he had begun to warm up to his teammates; meaning that he had elevated them from 'dead weight' to 'a barely tolerable nuisance.'

Naruto just walked with his arms behind his head, enjoying the scenery. Ever since he began training on his family's land, Naruto had gained an appreciation for the outdoors. The weather had been beautiful for the past couple of days, and today was shaping up to be the same. That's why he paused when he saw a puddle in the middle of the road. 'Weird, it hasn't rained in days. How can there still be a puddle in the middle of the road?' Naruto glanced at his teammates to see if they noticed it as well. Unfortunately, Sakura was too busy talking to Tazuna, and Sasuke was strutting like there was nothing wrong. He thought he saw Kakashi's eye flick towards the puddle, but that might have just been his imagination.

Naruto turned back down the road. That puddle was really starting to bug him, but he didn't want to do anything stupid. So, while his hands were still behind his head, Naruto discretely formed the cross shaped seal for _Kage Bunshin_. Silently, a group of clones phased into existence in the forest along the road. They were ready to jump in at a moment's notice.

Just as the group was passing, Naruto felt one of his clones disperse and its memory soon followed. They kept a close eye on the team and the puddle in the road. To their shock, two shinobi began to emerge from said puddle and moved to attack the group. Fortunately, one of the clones had the presence of mind to dispel itself in order to warn its creator.

Naruto's eyes widened at the clones memory. He stopped walking and spun on his heel. "Kakashi-sensei!" he shouted, just as the two missing nin wrapped his teacher in a bladed chain. The members of Team 7 and their client watched in horror as the shinobi pulled the chain to tear the jounin apart. Sakura let out a terrified shriek, while the strangely garbed ninja advanced upon the genin.

Naruto was frozen to the spot, and time seemed to slow. He watched as pieces of his sensei fall to the ground and heard the missing nin say, "One down," and start heading for him. Fear began to well up within him; the kind of fear he hadn't felt since he faced Mizuki. Naruto's eyes narrowed. He had also frozen up when Mizuki attacked him, and it had almost cost Iruka-sensei his life. Naruto steadied himself and prepared for the oncoming attackers. With his arms still by his side, Naruto made hand signals that went unnoticed by the Demon Brothers, but not by his clones. His plan, however, was interrupted by his brooding teammate.

Sasuke threw a shuriken that caught the chain connecting the brothers, followed up by a kunai that pinned it to a tree. The Demon Brothers' gave a grunt as their forward momentum was halted by their own chain. Sasuke landed on their gauntlet encased arms and kicked both of them in the head. But instead of allowing the blows to disorient them for long, the brothers used the momentum to release the chain connecting them.

Now separated, the brothers focused on different targets. The elder, Gouzu, began to head towards the true target, Tazuna. Sakura swallowed the fear she was feeling and stepped between him and her client. The younger brother, Meizu, made a beeline for Naruto. Naruto had to suppress a grin as the Mist shinobi approached him. He fell into a loose fighting stance as Meizu neared.

Meizu grinned under his mask. 'This brat doesn't stand a chance.' But when he was less than five steps from the boy something unexpected happened. The ground beneath him cracked open and a pair of hands shot out to try and grab his ankles. Fortunately, Meizu wasn't a chuunin for nothing. Leaping up to avoid the hands, he sneered behind his mask. "That's not good enough brat." But instead of Naruto looking worried, he was grinning up at the Kiri Shinobi. A shadow fell across Meizu's face, causing him to look up.

A clone of Naruto was coming straight at him, having leapt out of the tree line. The clone spun and attempted to deliver a powerful kick to Meizu's head, but was blocked by his metal gauntlet. But while he was blocking the flying Uzumaki, Meizu lost sight of the original. That is until he felt a elbow bury itself in his stomach. When Meizu lurched forward in pain, both airborne Narutos grabbed a hold of his arms and flung him towards the ground as hard as they could. Meizu collided with the ground back first with a sickening thud, but he was still conscious. Unfortunately for the Kiri-nin, Naruto wasn't quite finished. Both Narutos bent their legs and drove their knees into the man's chest. When the dust cleared, it revealed a slightly panting Naruto standing over a severely beaten Kiri-nin laying unconscious in a small crater.

"Well done Naruto." Naruto spun around to see Kakashi with the other Kiri-nin slung over his arm. "But if you're done playing for now, why don't you help us tie up these guys," Kakashi said with a smile.

Naruto's face lit up when he saw his sensei. "Kakashi-sensei, you're alive." He spun around to where the supposed remains of his sensei were and noticed that they were now only pieces of a log. '_Kawarimi_,' Naruto thought. He turned back to his sensei with a questioning gaze.

Kakashi had the decency to look a little sheepish as he replied. "Hehe, sorry for not intervening earlier, but I had to find out whether or not these two were after our client here. However, I am proud all of you for handling yourselves so well."

Naruto and Sakura beamed at their teacher, while Sasuke merely grunted a response. He then cast a suspicious glance at Naruto. 'Where did the dobe learn those moves from?' But Sasuke simply brushed those thoughts aside. 'Tch, like it matters. He'll always be dead-last.'

Kakashi turned to face Tazuna. The old man began to sweat under the jounin's gaze. "Well Tazuna-san, I believe that you have some explaining to do." The genins also began to eye the man carefully.

Tazuna let out a weary sigh. "Alright, I guess you deserve to know the truth. These ninja were sent after me by a man named Gato."

Kakashi's visible eye widened noticeably. "Gato? He's said to be one of the wealthiest people in the world."

Tazuna nodded solemnly. "Yes, Gatoh runs a shipping company that control several shipping and commerce lanes. But his company is just a front for illegal smuggling operations for drugs, weapons, and even slaves. He uses ninja and hired mercenaries to crush any competition or those who would bring him to justice." Tazuna's face held a look of intense sadness. "About a year ago, Gato set his sights on Wave. He now controls all shipping lanes going in and out of the country, keeping all of us in poverty. Even our damyo has very little money."

"But why would he be after you?" chimed in Naruto.

"Because of my bridge," Tazuna answered. "If my bridge is complete, Gato won't have control all of the trade in Wave, and we can finally be free of him."

Kakashi let out a sigh. "So that's why you lied to us. You couldn't afford to pay for an escort of higher level ninja required for this sort of mission." At Tazuna's nod Kakashi turned to his team. "Things have changed. This mission is now a high B or possible A-rank. Since information was withheld during the briefing, we are well within our rights to return to Konoha."

"I understand," Tazuna said. "You have your people to worry about, and you can't be expected to risk your lives for an old fart like me." He then let out a sad sigh. "It's a shame that my cute little grandson is going to loose his grandfather because the ninja he hired abandoned him. He'll probably cry himself to sleep for a long time. Not to mention my daughter will probably hate Konoha forever."

Team 7 sweat-dropped at Tazuna's shameless attempt to use the guilt card. Kakashi turned to his team. "Well, I guess I'll put it to a vote. Who thinks we should continue on?"

"Of course we should go on," said Naruto. "We accepted this mission, we can't just back out just because things get a little complicated." Kakashi wanted to strangle the blonde for making such a gross understatement.

"I agree with the dobe," Sasuke added, suprising Naruto. "We may as well finish what we started."

Kakashi nodded before turning to the last member. Sakura was a little hesitant in answering, but she refused to look weak in front of Sasuke. 'As long as Sasuke-kun thinks we should do it, then that's good enough for me.' '**Cha,** **I'll show Sasuke-kun how good I am**.' She looked her sensei in the eye and nodded her consent.

Kakashi let out a sigh. "Alright, since we're continuing I want all of you to be on your guard. Odds are their going to send a jounin next, so we'll need to be extra careful from now on." His students all nodded their understanding. "Then let's get going shall we."

It was a few more days of travel before they finally reached Wave. They had to take a small boat piloted by a friend of Tazuna in order to reach the country unnoticed. On the way they caught an eyeful of Tazuna's bridge. Naruto had to admit, the man knew his trade.

They were now walking down the road towards Tazuna's home. And to say that the atmosphere was tense would be understatement. Tazuna was jumping at the slightest sounds or movements. Sakura wasn't fairing much better, but she at least tempered her reactions somewhat. Sasuke was alert and ready for anything. Kakashi, though, seemed as bored as ever, even going so far as to read his copy of Icha Icha Paradise. But any shinobi could see that he was ready to fight at a moments notice. Naruto was about in the same state as the Uchiha, mostly calm and alert. But unknown to the rest of his team, besides Kakashi, Naruto had several clones in the surrounding forest scouting for any threats.

Despite the tension, the journey was quite uneventful so far. But with every step that brought them closer to Tazuna's home, the more a sense of foreboding seemed to fall upon the group. Naruto hoped they could make it the rest of the way in one piece.

Suddenly, Naruto spun on his heel and unleashed a kunai into the forest. The entire group stopped and took up defensive positions and stared intently at the point in the forest Naruto was looking. One of his clones had just been destroyed, but it hadn't seen who or what caused it.

For a long while, no one moved or even breathed. Finally, Naruto stepped forward and into the trees. He came back a moment later, carrying terrified white rabbit. Sakura let out a sigh and rounded on Naruto. "You baka! Stop trying to act cool. You nearly gave me a heart attack. And look what you did; you scared that poor thing half to death."

But her teammates didn't react to what she said. Instead, they were eying the rabbit suspiciously. It was the middle of spring, and yet it still had its winter coat on. Just as they were putting two and two together, they heard the whistling of something flying through the air. "GET DOWN!" Kakashi yelled.

Immediately, the ninja threw themselves to the ground, Naruto dragging Tazuna with him. A giant sword flew right where their head would have been and continued until it hit a tree not far away. The ninja scrambled to their feet and entered a defensive position once again. In a blur of motion, a man appeared standing on the hilt of the sword. He had no shirt but wore camouflage arm and leg warmers. Over his mouth and nose were bandages, and his forehead protector hung crookedly on his head.

"If it isn't Kirigakure's missing nin, Momochi Zabuza," Kakashi said while still in a ready position.

The man let out a dark chuckle. "I see my reputation precedes me. As does yours, 'Copy-nin' Kakashi."

Kakashi didn't respond to the man, instead he spoke to his team. "I want all of you to stay out of this. This guy is on a whole other level than the 'Demon Brothers', so let me handle this." He lifted his hand to his headband and pulled it aside. 'This could be difficult if I don't use this.'

"Ah, to reveal the Sharingan eye so soon. I am honored," Zabuza said.

Both Naruto and Sasuke turned to stare wide-eyed at their sensei. Sure enough, in his left eye socket, was a red Sharingan eye. 'How can Kakashi-sensei have the Sharingan?' Naruto thought. 'He's not an Uchiha… is he?' Naruto forced these thoughts out his mind for now since it wasn't really the best time for them. He looked up when Zabuza began to speak again.

"If you would please hand over the old man, I may let you and your team live," Zabuza said with an evil grin.

"I'm afraid I can't do that Zabuza," Kakashi said. He then turned back to his team. "Surround and protect Tazuna, that's your teamwork in this situation."

"Enough talk," Zabuza said. "Let's get started." In a blur of movement, he and his sword disappeared from the tree and reappeared on the surface of a lake nearby. With his hands in odd seals, one in front of his face while the other was held above his head, Zabuza growled out, "_Kirigakure no Jutsu_." Zabuza disappeared again and the surrounding area began to fill with mist, soon the Konoha nin could only see a few yards in front of them.

"Be on your guard," Kakashi said to his team. "Momochi Zabuza is said to be an expert at the silent killing technique. You won't even see him coming, until it's too late." Each of the genin pulled out a kunai to defend themselves, though it was obvious they were scared.

"Eight choices," came Zabuza's voice through the mist. "Liver, lungs, spine, clavical vein, neck vein, brain, kidneys, heart. So many choices, which one should I pick first?"

As he spoke, Zabuza let his killing intent wash over the genins. It elicited different reactions from the young shinobi. Sakura felt her lungs constrict, and her legs felt weak. It was as if something was trying to squeeze the life from her. She was so terrified she found it very difficult not to simply collapse and start sobbing.

Sasuke reacted much the same way Sakura had. He was feeling fear that he hadn't felt in a very long time. He couldn't move, and could barely breathe. It was so bad, that he almost felt that it would be better to simply end his own life than allow Zabuza to.

Naruto was also shaking, but not to the extent of his teammates. He had been subjected to killing intent before, mostly during his early years at the academy. But it was nowhere near as powerful as what he was experiencing now.

Kakashi could sense the dread coming from his students, most notably Sasuke. For some reason, he couldn't feel nearly as much from Naruto. He'd have to ask about that later. But right now he had to deal with the matters at hand. Flaring his chakra, Kakashi was able to cancel out most of Zabuza's killing intent. He turned back to look at his team. "Sasuke…" the genin flinched at hearing his name. "Don't worry. I'll protect you guys, even at the cost of my own life. I don't let my comrades die." That seemed to soothe their anxiety momentarily, but it came flooding back when Zabuza spoke.

"We'll see about that." The voice came from inside the genin's formation. The genins barely had time to acknowledge his presence before he started to swing his blade. Naruto acted before he really thought about, performing something that had become almost instinctual. Four _kage bunshin_ appeared behind himself, his teammates, and Tazuna, and threw them aside before anything happened to them and took the blow themselves. The formation of the clones was same as the hundreds of times Naruto had done it before, except for one major difference; he hadn't used hand seals. But because he was so distracted by the current fight, Naruto didn't realize this.

Zabuza growled at his prey's escape, but before he could pursue them further, Kakashi was on him, with a kunai in stabbed into his chest. All action seemed to freeze. The genin looked up at the two ninja, hoping Kakashi had just put an end to the fight. Unfortunately, that hope was thrown out the window when they realized that instead of blood flowing from the chest wound, it was water.

"Kakashi-sensei, behind you!" Naruto yelled. But it was too late. Before Kakashi could move, Zabuza swung his zanbato at incredible speeds. Team 7 watched in horror as their sensei was sliced in half… and then turn into to water.

Zabuza's eyes widened. 'He was able to copy me, even in the mist!' He then felt the cold metal of a kunai press against his throat.

"It's over," Kakashi said in a deathly serious tone. Unfortunately, Zabuza seemed nonplussed by his imminent doom. Instead, he began to laugh.

"I'll admit Kakashi, you are good. Using the clone give that little speech to distract me while you waited in the mist. But if you think you can beat me with your little monkey tricks…"

"…think again." Another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi. With a pull on his kunai, Kakashi dispatched the clone in front of him and spun to face the real deal. He was able to duck beneath a powerful swing of Zabuza's blade, but was unable to avoid the kick that followed. The force of the blow was enough to send the jounin into the lake. When Kakashi climbed back to the water's surface, he made a startling discovery.

'This water… it's heavy.' Suddenly, Zabuza was behind him, flashing through hand seals.

"_Suirou no Jutsu_." As Zabuza finished the technique, water wrapped itself around Kakashi's body. Soon, the cycloptic jounin was encased in a globe of water, unable to move. "I have you now Kakashi. This jutsu is inescapable." While keeping one hand in the liquid prison to maintain it, Zabuza turned his attention to the genin on shore. "Now to take care of your little brats," he said while using his free hand to form a seal. "_Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu_." The water at his feet began to morph until a replica of Zabuza stood next to him, zanbato and all.

"All of you run," Kakashi yelled from the prison. "He can't leave this spot without releasing me, and his clone can't travel far from the original."

When Kakashi finished speaking, Zabuza made his move. Moving with the speed that came with being a jounin, the clone attacked. It appeared before Naruto, who'd been distracted by Kakashi's order, and delivered a powerful kick to his chest. "Naruto!" shouted a worried Sakura as he hit the ground with a thud, kicking up dust. When the dust cleared, Naruto was seen laying on the ground clutching his chest painfully.

'Kuso,' Naruto thought, 'he hits harder than Lee.' He mentally berated himself for being distracted so easily. Biting back a groan, Naruto climbed to his feet to face the missing-nin.

"You're pathetic," the Zabuza clone said. "Do you really think that putting on those hitai-ates make you worthy of being called a ninja? You're just weak little brats who don't know a thing about being a real shinobi. By the time I was your age, blood had already stained my hands."

While Zabuza spoke, Naruto was trying to think of a strategy to beat him. 'He's strong, too damn strong. Even if all three of us attacked him at once I doubt we could beat him. The only person here that could take him on is Kakashi-sensei, but he's trapped in that damn bubble… I guess I'm just going to have to bust him out.' But he needed more time to plan, so he kept Zabuza talking. "What do you mean your hands were already stained?"

Zabuza let out a dark chuckle. "In Kirigakure, there academy graduation was once very different from what it is today."

"W-What's that supposed to mean?" asked Sakura.

Before Zabuza answered, Kakashi spoke. "Years ago, Kirigakure used to be known as the 'Bloody Mist' because of their sadistic graduation exam. In order to graduate, a student had to face another in mortal combat. Students had to kill those that they had trained alongside for years."

The assembled genin's eyes widened in horror. But Kakashi kept on speaking. "A number of years ago, Kiri was forced to change the graduation exam because of one horrible incident."

Although she didn't want to ask it, Sakura did anyway. "W-What horrible incident?"

"A child, not even a ninja, appeared during the exam and killed all of the students." The faces of the genin paled considerably, especially Naruto's, since he had a gut feeling who that child was.

Zabuza barked out a sadistic laugh. "Ah, fond childhood memories, wouldn't you say Kakashi?"

Kakashi glared at his captor then turned back to his team. "This fight was over the moment I was captured. Your mission is to protect Tazuna, not fight Zabuza. So get the hell out of here."

Naruto turned to Tazuna. "Ne, old man, do you think we could…"

Tazuna let out a chuckle. "Well, since I got all of you into this mess, I guess it's only fair. Go ahead kid, do what you've got to do."

Naruto grinned at the bridge builder and turned to look at his teacher. "Like you said sensei, 'Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandoned their comrades are lower than trash.' Sorry, but you're stuck with us."

"You should have listened to your sensei boy," Zabuza said menacingly. "Maybe your village should have adopted Kiri's exam. At least it would have kept trash like you from even attempting to become a ninja." Naruto narrowed his eyes dangerously at being called trash. "And until you've entered into my bingo book, you're not even worth my time; just a failure of a shinobi."

That was the final straw. With his head bowed slightly so his hair covered his eyes, Naruto spoke in a cold voice. "Listen here you no brow freak, here's another name to add to your book. Uzumaki Naruto, future hokage of Konohagakure no Sato." Naruto lifted his gaze to peer right into Zabuza's eyes. "And I'm going to show you what a failure can really do."

With a primal yell, Naruto rushed Zabuza's clone with a kunai in hand. "Naruto, don't!" Kakashi shouted, but to no avail.

"Fool," muttered the clone as it gripped its zanbatou. Naruto seemed completely oblivious to the danger he was in and continued his charge. Just as he entered swinging distance of Zabuza's sword, Naruto leapt into the air and threw his kunai at the clone's head. Zabuza laughed at the blonde's futile attack and tilted his head slightly to avoid the projectile while he swung his blade. Team 7 could only watch in horror as the kunai landed harmlessly behind the clone and Zabuza's sword struck Naruto's midsection, passing right through him, until he exploded in a cloud of smoke.

'A clone!?' Zabuza thought. The smoke emitted from the dispelled clone was much greater than that of a normal clone, and added to the surrounding mist, reduced the visibility around Zabuza's clone to zero. The clang of metal was heard, along with the sound of grunts of pain and a thud. Silence followed the attack as all the observers tried vainly to peer into the smokescreen. Finally, after seemingly an eternity of waiting the smoke began to lift. The sight it revealed was not one Team 7 wanted to see.

The _mizu bunshin _was seen standing completely unharmed. At its feet was a severely beaten and bloodied Naruto. "Pathetic," the clone said while placing his heel on Naruto's throat. Naruto weakly tried to push the foot away but it wouldn't budge. The spectators could do nothing but watch as Naruto gasped for air. "Did you really believe that someone like you could ever be anything more than an annoyance to someone like me?" Reaching down, the clone grabbed Naruto by his jacket's collar and pulled him up to eye level.

The real Zabuza turned to his prisoner. "Well Hatake, I believe that this will be the first of your students you watch die. How does it feel Kakashi?"

Kakashi gave the man a hateful glare, but on the inside he was grinning like a madman. Due to the power of his Sharingan eye, Kakashi saw something that Zabuza did not. 'Naruto, you really are the most unpredictable ninja I've ever met.'

Suddenly, the clone holding Naruto spun around, flinging the blonde on a collision course with the original Zabuza and begin to flash through hand signs. "What!?" said a very surprised Zabuza.

"Fuuton: Daitoppa," the clone shouted, extending his palms towards the Uzumaki missile. An incredible burst of wind followed, accelerating Naruto to incredible speeds and causing Zabuza to lose his footing slightly. Pulling out two kunai, Naruto aimed to strike Zabuza as he passed. Of course, Zabuza saw this coming, and in a desperate attempt to defend himself while still keeping Kakashi prisoner, he grabbed his sword and swung at the approaching brat. This maneuver would further disrupt his balance, but it would destroy the immediate threat. However, when his blade made contact with the flying genin, the boy immediately poofed into a cloud of smoke.

'Another clone?' thought Zabuza in exasperation. He spun his head to look back to the shore, only to see a single kunai racing towards his face. Behind it, his 'clone' was again racing through seals.

"_Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_." Suddenly, the kunai multiplied to about half a dozen. Because of his loss of balance, Zabuza was unable to pull his sword in front of his body to deflect the weapons, nor could he contort to avoid them. That left only one option. Forcing chakra into his feet, Zabuza leapt aside to save himself from the projectiles. Although he saved himself from serious injury, one kunai was able to find its mark in his right thigh. It wasn't very deep, but enough to cause Zabuza to growl in pain.

Sliding to a stop on the water's surface, Zabuza turned to face the imposter clone. In a puff of smoke the _mizu bunshin_ disappeared to reveal a grinning Naruto. "You fucking brat," Zabuza roared as he wrenched the kunai from his leg and hurled it at the blonde genin. However, the weapon didn't even make it halfway to its target before it was intercepted by another kunai. Zabuza turned to see who would dare interrupt his attack. Kakashi stood on the water with his arm still outstretched.

"Don't forget Zabuza, I'm still your opponent in this fight." With his gaze still locked with Zabuza, Kakashi addressed Naruto. "That was a good plan Naruto, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't take unnecessary risks. You have a team for a reason you know." Despite his words, Kakashi hadn't really spoken in a scolding tone.

Naruto smiled sheepishly at his sensei while he scratched the back of his head. "Hehe, sorry Kakashi-sensei, but it was kind of an on the fly plan." It really was. When Zabuza hit him and kicked up all of that dust, Naruto was able to make a _kage bunshin_ to take his place while he henged into a kunai. Then when the clone attacked Zabuza's, it threw the real Naruto behind him and, using a little trick he learned with _kage bunshin_, created a smokescreen to hide them from view. That's when Naruto released the henge and brought down the _mizu bunshin_ with a kunai in the back.

Again Naruto applied a henge, this time turning into Zabuza and creating another clone. The clone henged to look as though it had been beaten to within an inch of its life. When he felt that Zabuza had let his guard down sufficiently, Naruto threw his clone at the ex-Kiri nin. Then it was only a matter of time before he was able to get him away from Kakashi.

"Naruto, go back to Sasuke and Sakura and keep an eye on Tazuna. I'll take care of Zabuza." Naruto nodded to his sensei and turned around to join his teammates. Sasuke and Sakura looked at Naruto strangely.

'Damn it, where the hell does the dobe get those jutsus?' He then looked to Kakashi. 'Is Kakashi training him while I'm not around?' His features hardened into a scowl. 'I refuse to let that loser gain more power than me.'

Sakura stared at Naruto, slightly bewildered by his actions. 'I don't get it. What happened to the dead-last from the academy? Has Naruto really gotten this good?' Sakura's inner-self struck a thoughtful pose before responding. **'Nah, I'm still better than that baka, Shannaro.'**

"Heh, I got distracted and released the jutsu," said Zabuza with a sneer.

"Wrong," said Kakashi, "you were forced to release it, and I don't fall for the same jutsu twice."

Zabuza smirked at the scarecrow. Taking a small leap backwards, he then began to flash through dozens of hand-seals at incredible speeds. The only problem was that Kakashi was performing the same seals just as quickly.

"_Suiryuuden no Jutsu_," Zabuza and Kakashi shouted out in unison. Twin water dragons rose from the lake and attempted to strike both ninja at the same time. The resulting collision produced a massive explosion of water, soaking the onlookers, but leaving them relatively unharmed. When the water subsided, it revealed Zabuza and Kakashi with their blades locked; Zabuza with his monstrous sword and Kakashi with a single kunai.

With a grunt, both men leapt away from each other, and began to circle one another. Suddenly, they both came to a stop and formed the same hand-seal.

Zabuza's eyes widened. 'My movements… He's completely…'

"…reading them," Kakashi finished.

'What!? Is he reading my mind?' Zabuza looked directly into Kakashi's Sharingan. 'Damn it! That…'

"…freaky eye is starting to piss me off," Kakashi said with a smirk. Zabuza was enraged by the man's attitude, and began to fly through hand-seals with reckless abandon. Of course, Kakashi matched his pace.

'Damn it, he keeps copying me. Heh, he can't beat me with his damn monkey tri…' Zabuza's thoughts came to a halt when something impossible happened. Behind Kakashi, was a copy of himself flashing through the same hand-seals. 'W-What is this? Is it a genjutsu?' Because of the distraction, Zabuza faltered on the last hand-seal of his jutsu. That was all Kakashi needed.

"_Daibakufu no Jutsu_," Kakashi said as he finished the last seal.

"What!?" Zabuza roared.

Water swirled around Kakashi's feet into a vortex directly in front of him. A moment later it exploded forward, sending a wave of water crashing into Zabuza with incredible force. The water carried the missing-nin off of the lake and caused him to collide with a large tree. Before he could even groan in pain, four kunai pinned him to the tree, courtesy of Kakashi. Said copy-nin landed on one of the lower branches of the tree.

"How…" Zabuza gasped out while looking at Kakashi. "C-Can you see the future?"

"Yes," Kakashi said simply, "and your future… is death." But before Kakashi could strike the killing blow, two senbon flew out of nowhere and pierced Zabuza through the neck. Zabuza let out a surprised groan and gurgle, before falling to the ground, dead.

Kakashi spun to discover the identity of the mysterious attacker. A kiri hunter nin appeared not far from Kakashi and Zabuza's now lifeless body. The ninja had long black hair and wore a large robe. That coupled with their mask made it difficult to tell whether or not the shinobi was male or female.

"I apologize for my interference," the figure said with a soft but slightly masculine voice. "I've been tracking Zabuza for quite some time, and I felt that it was best that he died by my hand. Thank you for your assistance."

Kakashi eyed the hunter-nin for a moment before smiling. "I'm just glad we could be helpful." He approached Zabuza's body to check his vitals. He found none. The hunter-nin and Kakashi looked up when they heard footsteps approaching.

The remaining members of Team 7 and Tazuna approached their sensei and the newcomer cautiously.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, who's this guy?" Naruto asked while eying the kiri-nin suspiciously.

"Calm down Naruto," Kakashi said to placate his student. "This is a Kiri hunter-nin. It's his job to hunt down any ninja who betrays his village and make sure that any secrets they carry are destroyed; whether it's carried in their head, or in their very body."

The members of Team 7 looked astonished. Naruto looked at the Kiri-nin with wide eyes. 'He can't be much older than I am, but he's already that strong. Incredible.'

"Your sensei is quite correct. Although he is dead, Zabuza's body can still reveal many secrets of my village. That is why it must be disposed of." The hunter-nin moved to Zabuza's body and hefted it on their shoulder before addressing Team 7. "Again, I thank you for your assistance in eliminating Momochi Zabuza," and without another word, the hunter-nin shunshined away.

Kakashi turned to his team. "Well, I suppose we should continue on to Tazuna's house…" He didn't get any further as he simply collapsed.

"Kakashi-sensei!!" shouted Sakura and Naruto. After realizing that the man was suffering from chakra exhaustion the team decided to continue on to Tazuna's home. Of course, the responsibility of carrying Kakashi rested on Naruto's shoulders, literally.

* * *

In a nearby clearing, the Kiri-nin set Zabuza's body on the ground. Pulling out several surgical tools, he then reached towards Zabuza's neck to retrieve his senbon. But when he was about to touch the weapons, a hand clasped around his wrist, belonging to the supposed corpse below him. 

"I can get those myself," said Zabuza in a weak voice.

"Ah, you're already awake," said the masked hunter-nin.

Zabuza sat up with a groan. "Do you have to be so rough?" he asked while gripping one of the senbon in his neck. With a violent pull, he yanked the weapon out.

"Be careful Zabuza-sama. If not, you could actually die," the hunter-nin said with a bit of worry.

Zabuza just looked at the boy. "How long are you going to keep that damn mask on, Haku? You know I dislike it."

"Sorry Zabuza-sama." Bringing his hand to his face, Haku removed his mask to reveal a teenaged boy with a feminine face. His face became very serious as he looked at Zabuza. "If I hadn't interfered when I had, you would have surely been killed."

"I know that!" Zabuza growled. "But next time, I will defeat Kakashi and his damned Sharingan."

"Of course Zabuza-sama," Haku said while he helped his master to his feet. "But you will need to rest until then. With all of the damage you took and the death-like state I put you in, you won't be at peak fighting condition for another week, at the soonest."

Zabuza scowled, but knew better than to question Haku's medical expertise. "Fine, in one week we'll make our move." Haku nodded as he helped his master. 'Soon Kakashi, very soon…'

* * *

AN: Done, how'd you like it? I had originally intended to include the rest of the Whirlpool mission to show further interaction between Minato and Kushina, but I realized that it took too much focus away from the original story. Instead, I'm probably going to make a oneshot that shows all of what happened during that mission. Just so you know, I put Minato and Kushina's ages around 13-14 years old at this time 

_Bunshin Enmaku:_ Clone Smokescreen (Clever, no?) By making an extra seal during a clone's creation, Naruto's bunshin is able to expel its chakra to increase the amount of smoke released when its dispelled, thus creating a smokescreen to distract an opponent.


	8. Training Begins

AN: Okay, before any of you start ripping into to me for taking so long to update this story, let it be known that I have a very good excuse for the delay. I'm not going to tell you what it is, but trust me it's a good one.

* * *

Chapter 8: Training Begins

Yuuhi Kurenai silently watched her team as they trained. Initially, she had been reluctant to take on a genin team so early in her jounin career. It's not like she disliked the idea of training a team, she just thought she should have had a bit more time as a jounin under her belt. However, she overheard some chuunin question the ability of a woman to train a squad of genin, siting that even Tsunade of the Sannin never took a team. She'd be damned if she didn't take this opportunity to prove them wrong. And so far she was very happy with the team she received.

Shino was your typical Aburame; silent, reclusive, showing almost no emotion. He is very intelligent, with a gift for strategy. During Kurenai's test, Shino took on the role of leader of the group, much to the annoyance of Kiba. Kurenai had to admit, if she was indisposed, she would feel more at ease if Shino was leading the team. He would rely on his logic and not fly off the handle when things became desperate. However, Kurenai was worried that Shino relied too heavily on his Kikai bugs in combat. If he were to come across an opponent that was able to get past his insects or rendered them ineffective, Shino would be hard pressed to overcome them. So Kurenai planned for the bug boy practice taijutsu as well as his family's techniques.

Kiba seemed to be Shino's polar opposite. He was loud, brash, and far too overconfident for his own good. But physically, he was probably the strongest member of team 8. Couple that with his clan's techniques and help from his canine companion, and Kiba was very dangerous in a close quarters fight. However, his pride would sometimes cause unrest in the team, often arguing with Shino over his apparent leadership. Also, Kurenai admitted, embarissingly, the boy was a bit of a pervert, constantly leering at anything in a skirt. He even tried hitting on Hinata a few times, but the girl kindly turned him down every time.

Speaking of whom, Kurenai then looked to her third charge. She had known Hinata years before Team 8 was formed. It still angered her greatly that Hiashi had so casually pawned off his own daughter when she didn't appear to be progressing as quickly as he wanted. She held a deep loathing of that man, and probably always would. He had effectively destroyed his own child's confidence.

When she had gathered her team for the first time after graduation, Hinata was still the same as she remembered; painfully shy, low confidence, and very quiet. Kurenai had hoped that Hinata would come out of her shell during her tenure at the academy, but that didn't seem to be the case. During Kurenai's test, Hinata didn't really do much in the way of offering ideas of how to pass; she merely followed her teammates and activated her Byakugan when asked. Kurenai knew that the girl's self-confidence was going to be an issue.

However, in the coming weeks Kurenai noticed a change coming over the shy Hyuuga. It was subtle at first; she walked a little straighter when she met her team, didn't seem to shy away from conversation quite as much as she used to, and she fought a bit harder during spars. Kurenai initially took this as a result of her becoming more comfortable with her teammates, but now the jounin believed that it may be something more than that.

Lately after team practices were done, Hinata would stay behind while her teammates left. Kurenai had remained after dismissing her team one day to see what Hinata was up to. To her surprise, the young Hyuuga was using this time to further train herself. She'd practice strikes on the training posts, conditioning her body, and going through the Jyuuken stances. Kurenai had never seen Hinata train with such determination before and wondered what had sparked these changes in the girl.

The young jounin pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind for now. It was time to call an end to team practice for the day. So she signaled to her students to come over to her. She didn't speak until all three genin were standing in front of her.

"Great job. All of you did very well today." She smiled as her students beamed under the praise… except Shino of course. "But don't get ahead of yourselves," she said sternly, "there's still a lot of room for improvement from all of you, understood." Her students stood straight and nodded their affirmation. Kurenai smiled at her team. "Good, we're finished for the day. You're dismissed," she finished before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

Kiba and Shino mumbled their goodbyes and began their trek home. Hinata, however, didn't move. "A-ano… Shino-kun, K-kiba-kun, c-could you wait a m-moment please?" she asked in a voice barely loud enough for her teammates to catch. Kiba and Shino stopped walking and turned back to the Hyuuga heiress.

"Sure, what's up Hinata-chan?" Kiba asked.

Hinata didn't reply immediately. She poked her fingers together timidly, a habit she had divulged in less and less in the passing weeks. Kiba and Shino shared a look. They hadn't seen her act this nervous since their team was first assigned.

"Hinata-san," Shino said, "we are your teammates. If there is anything you wish to inquire of us, ask and we will do our best to assist you."

"Yeah, what he said," Kiba reassured. Akamaru yipped his agreement for good measure.

Listening to the reassurances of her teammates, Hinata took a deep breath to calm herself. "I…I would like you both to help me train," she said with as steady a voice she could manage.

Kiba looked confused. "But Hinata-chan, we train with you all the time. We just got done training with Kurenai-sensei." Hinata made to explain herself better, but Shino beat her to it.

"Kiba, I believe Hinata is seeking our help with training beyond what we cover during our team meetings," Shino said, looking to Hinata for confirmation.

"Hai," she replied while nodding appreciatively to her stoic teammate. "I want to create a new technique, a-and I was hoping you could help me." Hinata looked at her teammates with a hopeful expression.

Kiba and Shino shared a look, and by silent agreement both nodded their heads. The dog boy turned back to Hinata with a toothy grin. "Sure thing Hinata-chan. So when do we start."

"R-right now, if it's not t-to much trouble," she replied.

"What would you like us to do?" Shino asked.

Hinata slid into a fighting stance with her left arm forward and her palm facing her teammates. "Attack me with every thing you have."

From a nearby tree, Kurenai watched as her team began their new training regimen. She couldn't help the proud smile that spread across her face as she looked at Hinata. She was certain that just a month ago the shy heiress wouldn't dare approach her teammates for help with her training. That of course raised more questions as to what was causing the change in the young Hyuuga's personality.

Kurenai liked to think that it was her leadership and her team's support that was bringing Hinata out of her shell, but something in her gut was telling her otherwise. And she highly doubted that Hinata was getting any encouragement from home. So what was it? She just hoped it wasn't something she should be worried about.

As her students' new training session heated up, Kurenai decided to keep an eye on Hinata when she had the chance. If something or someone was affecting one of her students this deeply, she wanted to know what the source was.

* * *

"Geez this is boring," Naruto complained. He and his teammates were currently waiting for their sensei to wake up from his exhaustion induced stupor.

"Shut up Naruto baka!" said an agitated Sakura before turning back to watching over her sensei. **'Geez this is boring,'** grumbled 'inner' Sakura.

Earlier that day Team 7 was able to reach Tazuna's house with little trouble after the run-in with Zabuza. They were greeted by Tazuna's daughter Tsunami, who helped them put Kakashi on a futon so he could rest properly. Now all they could do was sit and wait for their sensei to wake up.

Unfortunately, sitting and waiting was never something Uzumaki Naruto ever did willingly. But he couldn't just leave his teammates to watch over him by themselves. The nagging would never end. Fortunately, Naruto was a master at being in two places at once.

After excusing himself to use the bathroom, Naruto walked out into the hallway. As soon as the door closed behind him Naruto summoned a few kage bunsin. He didn't want to leave a clone with his team this time since it seemed disrespectful to his sensei. But at least his clones could get in a little training before Kakashi woke up.

Reaching into his pack Naruto retrieved one of the rubber balls he had brought with him and tossed it to one of the clones. He discovered a few weeks ago that he couldn't use _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ to create more rubber balls to practice with since the balls would already be made up of his chakra and pumping more into it would be redundant. The ball would already be a part of the clone, so it wouldn't really be any different from focusing chakra in its hand.

Turning to his two other clones, Naruto again reached into his pack and pulled out a mostly blank scroll. These clones would be working on one of Naruto's other projects. Giving a short nod to their creator, the clones silently left the house to find a quiet place to train. Naruto turned back to the room to continue his team's vigil over their sensei. Now all he could do was wait for the lazy jounin to wake up.

Sakura was keeping herself busy by occasionally checking over Kakashi and trying to engage Sasuke in conversation. Sasuke paid little attention to his pink haired teammate. Instead he simply sat against the wall and occasionally cast a suspicious glance at Naruto. He still couldn't figure out how he did so well in the fight against Zabuza.

Upon reentering the room, Naruto received quick glances from his teammates and nodded towards them in turn. Taking a seat along the wall adjacent to Sasuke, Naruto reached into his pack for something. This drew the curious glances of Sakura and Sasuke… only for him to pull out a deck of cards.

Naruto was oblivious to his teammate's stares as he took his cards out of their box and began to shuffle them. And he kept shuffling. He didn't lay them out to play a game to pass the time, as his teammates had first thought. Instead he just kept shuffling the cards in different manners as fast as he could.

Eventually Sakura became fed up with his strange behavior. "Naruto-baka, what on earth are you doing?" she hissed. "Stop goofing off!"

Naruto finally glanced up from the deck and noticed his teammates staring at him. His face formed a sheepish grin while his free hand scratched the back of his head. "Hehe, sorry about that Sakura, I was just doing a little exercise that Iruka-sensei told me about." At Sakura's questioning look he decided to elaborate. "He told me that if I ever have any down time I should try activities like this using my hands. He said that it improves dexterity in your fingers so you can perform hand seals better and improve reaction time."

Sakura actually didn't have a response to this. She didn't actually think he had a good reason for doing that. The only intelligent thing she could say was "Oh" and went back to sitting quietly. She actually felt a little bad for snapping at him, but quickly shook off that feeling. It was Naruto after all.

Sasuke remained aloof on the outside, but inside he was actually considering Naruto's little exercise. It hadn't occurred to him that he could be using this time to perform small exercises like that. He'd have to try it sometime. Not in front of Naruto though; Sasuke's pride wouldn't allow the dobe to think he'd influenced the Uchiha in any way.

The room fell into a lull of silence. After about an hour Tazuna joined the shinobi to keep them company. It would be another half hour before the monotony was finally broken.

Kakashi suddenly shot up to a sitting position, his one visible eye widened. Immediately his team was by his side.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're awake," Sakura said, stating the obvious.

"Geez, you about gave us a heart attack sensei," Naruto said.

If Kakashi heard his students, he didn't show it. Instead, he stared straight ahead, as if mulling something over. His students could hear him mumbling something along the lines of 'dammit, I can't believe I missed it, why didn't I notice sooner.'

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, you all right?" asked Naruto. "You look like you saw a ghost."

Kakashi let out a tired sigh before looking at his team. "We might have a problem. When a hunter-nin eliminates their target, they normally dispose of the body immediately, only taking the head as proof of their kill."

"So? What's your point sensei?" asked Sakura.

"So… how did the hunter-nin dispose of Zabuza's body?"

"How are we supposed to know, that masked guy took off with Zabuza's body," Sakura stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Exactly, why lift a body that was considerably heavier than he was? Plus, the weapons he used…" Kakashi let the sentence hang, allowing his students to fit the last piece.

Sasuke and Naruto had similar thoughts going through their heads. 'The guy only used simple needles.' Almost simultaneously their eyes widened

"No way," Sasuke rasped out.

"Crap," Naruto muttered.

Sakura gaze shifted between her teammates, not quite catching on to what Kakashi was talking about.

"That's right," Kakashi said. "In all probability, Zabuza is still alive."

The affects of his words were immediate. Tazuna's face seemed to lose all color at the prospect of his would-be assassin still lurking about. Sakura's features took on a look of shock and horror while Sasuke put on a dark scowl. And Naruto… Naruto's eyes seemed to light up with determination and, if Kakashi wasn't mistaken, excitement.

"B-but Kakashi-sensei," Sakura stuttered, "he had no pulse. You said so yourself."

"True, but that was most likely a false-death. Hunter-nin possess intimate knowledge of the human body, and with those senbon needles, it was probably simple for him to place Zabuza in a death like trance."

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Finally, Naruto spoke up. "How long do you think Zabuza will be out of commission?"

"Well, that's a little hard to say. Placing someone in a death-like state like that takes a large toll on their body. Plus the damage he took during the fight. If Zabuza's hunter-nin companion is a proficient healer, then my best guess is that Zabuza won't be in fighting condition for another week, at the soonest."

"So what do we do until then?" questioned Sakura.

Kakashi's visible eye curved upwards, indicating his smile. "Training."

"But Kakashi-sensei, Zabuza was an opponent even you had trouble facing; how is a week of training supposed to help?" asked Sakura.

Kakashi simply continued to smile at his students. "Sakura, who was it that rescued me when I was trapped by Zabuza? You're all improving rapidly, especially you Naruto."

Naruto flinched slightly at his sensei's words, not quite believing what he just heard. Slowly, a smile spread across his face; a true smile. There were precious few moments in his life when he received praise, and he cherished every one. His reaction didn't go unnoticed by his sensei. 'Strange, to get such a reaction from such a little compliment.' The jounin shoved this bit of information to the back of his mind.

"Of course, I don't expect you to run off and fight Zabuza any time soon," Kakashi continued. "He's far beyond any of your levels at this point. You'll just be training until my body is done healing."

Naruto shook excitedly. "Well, when do we get started?"

* * *

It was shortly after breakfast the next day that Kakashi led his team into the woods to begin their new training. Naruto was only to happy to get outside to get some training. Besides, that kid Inari was starting to grate his nerves.

The jounin was still very weak, having to use a pair of crutches to walk. Kakashi stopped his hobbling in front of a few large trees and turned to face his students. For some reason Naruto began to experience a case of déjà vu.

"Alright, I think this should be a good spot."

"Ano, sensei, what kind of training are we going to do?" Sakura asked.

"I'm glad you asked Sakura. Today I'm going to teach you to properly use your chakra."

'Yep,' Naruto thought to himself, 'this is definitely sounding familiar.'

"But sensei, we already know how to use chakra," said Sakura.

Kakashi simply smiled at the girl. "True, you know how to access your chakra, but genins rarely know how to properly mold and use their chakra to its fullest extent."

"What's that supposed to mean," asked an annoyed Sasuke. He didn't like being told that he didn't know how to do something.

His tone only seemed to further amuse Kakashi. "Well Sasuke-kun, as you all should know, chakra is the combination of physical and spiritual energy in your body. And by molding chakra you are able to utilize it for jutsu. However, during a battle like the one with Zabuza, you have to be ready to pull out your chakra at a moment's notice, even while moving rapidly. Most fresh genin are unable to do this without wasting quite a bit of chakra in the process. If you don't learn to properly control your chakra, you can't expect to become a decent shinobi."

Naruto noticed that Sasuke and Sakura glanced in his direction when Kakashi finished. He had to suppress a growl of irritation at his teammates. 'Of course, if someone on this team has bad control, it has to be me,' Naruto thought bitterly. 'But if Kakashi-sensei is going where I think he's going, they're going to be in for a bit of a surprise.'

After glancing at her 'dead last' teammate, Sakura turned back to her sensei. "So, what are you going to teach to improve our control sensei?"

Kakashi grinned, and Naruto almost joined him as he guessed the next words out of the jounin's mouth. "Tree climbing."

It took every ounce of willpower that Naruto had not to laugh at the reactions of his teammates. Both held looks of confusion and shock. When that passed, Sasuke's face fell into a scowl. He probably figured Kakashi was messing with him and wasting his time. Sakura reacted the same way she always did when she thought someone was poking fun at her: loudly and angrily.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean sensei?! How is dragging ourselves up a bunch of moldy old trees going to make it easier to mold our chakra?"

Despite Sakura's outburst, Kakashi never dropped his damn smile. "I never said anything about using your hands Sakura." He took a moment to enjoy the confused stares of his students, all except Naruto. The blonde just kept looking at the jounin as if he were telling a joke that he'd already heard, and was just waiting for Kakashi to hurry up and get to the punchline.

"Watch closely," Kakashi said as he formed a seal to focus his chakra. The seal was more for his student's benefit than actually needing it to mold his chakra. He turned to a nearby tree and, as Naruto expected, began to walk up the side. Kakashi stopped when he reached a low hanging branch, looking like a bat: a giant, silver-haired, cycloptic bat… with crutches.

"This exercise works two-fold. It requires a small but exact amount of chakra to stick to the tree. Doing so should get you used to drawing out chakra for your jutsu without wasting as much. Also, it builds up your stamina for longer, drawn-out battles. And since directing chakra to the soles of your feet, performing this technique should better prepare you for learning new jutsu."

As he finished his description, Kakashi gauged his student's reactions again. Sasuke actually appeared to be interested, the chance to become stronger winning him over. Sakura didn't look like she found the idea of a sweaty workout appetizing, but refrained from saying anything lest she look bad in front of Sasuke. And Naruto, much to Kakashi's annoyance, actually looked a little bored. 'What are you playing at Naruto?'

Reaching into his pocket, Kakashi withdrew three kunai before flinging them at his students' feet. "All right, pick a tree and start climbing. You can use those kunai to mark your progress. Oh, and you might want to get a running start, your not good enough to simply walk up the trees."

Team 7 nodded their understanding and picked up the kunai. Each of them took a moment to focus their chakra before beginning. Suddenly, as if by some unknown signal, all three genin rushed forward towards their respective trees.

Sasuke ran at the tree at full speed. He was determined to outperform Naruto in this exercise. The Uchiha was able to make about four steps up the side of the tree before his chakra output faultered. The bark under his foot cracked under the strain and he was repeled from the surface. Sasuke bounded off of surrounding trees before landing back on the ground. Looking up to see his progress, he was disappointed to find out he'd only reached a height of about eight feet or so, and most of that was from his momentum. 'I never thought it would be this hard.'

"This is pretty easy!" came a shout from above. Sasuke's head swiveled around until he was looking up the tree that his pink-haired teammate had climbed. Sakura was sitting on a branch about thirty feet above the ground, her legs dangling off of the side.

For the next several moments, Sasuke could only stare dumbly at his female teammate. 'How did she get it so fast?' After a few seconds he was able to remove the look of shock from his face, replacing it with his normal, apathetic façade. 'Che, I guess her booksmarts finally counted for something.'

Sasuke turned to check on the progress of his other teammate, certain to find the dobe with his face in the dirt. Sakura followed his gaze to Naruto's tree only to see… nothing. The blonde was nowhere to be found.

The two genin began to scan the area around the tree, looking for any sign of the blonde. To their confusion, he didn't appear to be anywhere on the forest floor. So they looked to his tree. They didn't see him on the trunk, or any scratch from his kunai.

"Where the hell is the dobe?" asked Sasuke.

"The baka probably got lost on his way to the tree," Sakura said with a smile, hoping to elicit a chuckle from her crush. Of course, she received none.

A cough caught the attention of the two genin. Both turned around to face Kakashi. However, the jounin wasn't looking at either of them. Instead his gaze was fixed on something almost straight above them. Naturally, Sakura and Sasuke followed his line of sight, up through the canopy. What they saw shocked both into silence.

Uzumaki Naruto, dead last of their class in the academy, was standing at the top of his tree. The blonde genin was using his vantage point to enjoy his view of the Wave country, and it was a hell of a view. He could see the village from his position, and could just perceive Tazuna's bridge beyond that. Some of the morning mist had yet to lift, and when the sun reached a certain point in the sky, it seemed to cast the whole country in a golden glow. A breathtaking sight.

"A place worth saving," Naruto muttered to himself.

He was brought back to the present by a shout from his teacher.

"Well done Naruto… you can come down now you know."

Naruto turned to look down to the ground to see his team staring back up at him. He just flashed a grin at them and with one dramatic step forward, allowed himself to begin falling to the ground.

Sakura gasped at Naruto's apparent leap to his demise. Kakashi cursed his weakened body, unable to catch the boy. Sasuke tensed, preparing to save the dobe; after all, if Naruto died then Kakashi might be too distracted to train him.

Team 7's collective worry was all for not. At about twenty feet from the ground, Naruto flipped forward and kicked off the tree. From there he continued to bounce from one tree to another until he finally reached the forest floor, landing in a crouched position.

Standing up, Naruto realized his team was still staring at him. "What?" he asked innocently.

His words seemed to bring Sakura out of her shock induced stupor. "What do you mean 'What'!? You just about killed yourself by jumping off of that tree you baka. How the hell did you get all the way to the top anyway? Kakahsi-sensei said not to use your hands baka. If you're cheating just to try and upstage Sasuke-kun, I'm going to pound you into the ground."

Naruto simply stared forward while Sakura spoke. When she finished her little tirade he blinked, as if coming out of a daze. "Huh, what were you saying Sakura? I couldn't hear you over that sudden gust of hot air."

The vein in Sakura's forehead suddenly began to pulsate violently. A soft snicker behind the girl caused Sakura to turn around and glare heatedly at her sensei. But Kakashi already had his nose buried in his little orange book. Turning back to her blonde teammate Sakura began to move forward, fully intent on beating Naruto into unconciousness. However, she was thwarted by her sensei's voice.

"Now Sakura, Naruto did climb the tree using only his feet. I watched him do it myself."

Sakura deflated at Kakashi's words. But she pushed it out of her head when her crush began to speak.

"Dobe, where did you learn to do that?" Sasuke was becoming increasingly aggravated with Naruto's recent increase in abilities. How could the loser know things that an Uchiha didn't?

Naruto rubbed the back of his head while he grinned sheepishly. "Oh that. Well, I asked Iruka-sensei for a good chakra control exercise about a month ago and he showed me how to walk up trees."

'So that explains it,' Kakashi thought to himself. 'But according to what I've heard about Iruka, he normally doesn't show favoritism to any one student. Why did he make an exception for Naruto?' He pushed his thoughts aside for now. 'I wonder how long it took Naruto to master tree walking.' No sooner had he thought it when Sasuke voiced it.

"How long did it take you to figure out dobe?"

Naruto was about to tell him the truth before he thought better of it. Mastering tree walking in a single day would be nearly impossible for someone with his initial control. He may have to come clean about his training methods, and he wasn't exactly ready to divulge that bit of information. Kakashi may try to dissuade him from ever using it again due to the amount of mental stress it causes. Even when Naruto dispelled his bunshins systematically, he still received massive migraines if he used more than a dozen for a prolonged period. That's why he cut back on using it too often. Plus, Naruto just didn't want his training methods to be made public knowledge.

"It took me about two weeks to get it down, but I still work on it whenever I get the chance."

Naruto's answer seemed to assuage Sasuke's ego slightly. After all, if the dobe could grasp this technique in two weeks, then an Uchiha of his skill should be able to master it in a fraction of the time. Sakura also accepted the answer. Of course someone like Naruto would need all the training they could get to keep up with her and her Sasuke-kun.

Kakashi was the only one who felt there was something off with Naruto's explanation. He noticed that Naruto seemed to catch himself from saying something before telling the team of his training. It was just another question that went along with the enigma that is Uzumaki Naruto.

"Well," Kakashi said, returning everyone's attention to himself, "it looks like the only female on the team and the dead last seem to have gotten this technique down pretty well… so much for the great Uchiha."

Sasuke leveled a deadly glare at his sensei, not appreciating the slight against him.

"Hey, don't say that about Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted. '**He might get pissed at me for doing better than him.'**

Kakashi ignored the girl's outburst. "Since Naruto and Sakura have such a good grasp of this exercise, they will be alternating guard duty for Tazuna. When you're not on guard duty, I expect you to continue training in whatever you see fit. Meanwhile, you Sasuke," he said while turning to the brooding boy, "will continue working on this exercise. I'm sure you can get it within the week," Kakashi said with a slightly sarcastic edge to his voice."

Sasuke didn't spare his teammates a second glance as he turned back to his tree and attempted to run up its side with renewed vigor. Kakashi smiled under his mask. The boy needed a lesson in humility. Hopefully he'd get over his pride and ask his teammates for help.

The jounin turned to his two other students. "Now, one of you needs to guard Tazuna for today." Sakura was about to volunteer Naruto so she could stay with Sasuke, but Kakashi cut her off. With one hand behind his back, Kakashi said, "Sakura, how many fingers am I holding up?"

Sakura took on a contemplative look for a second. "Three," she half-stated, half-asked.

Kakashi smiled as he revealed his hand with three fingers extended. "Good guess Sakura. You have the honor of guarding Tazuna today."

Sakura opened and closed her mouth wordlessly, unable to sputter out her outrage. Not giving the girl a chance to find her voice, Kakashi merely ushered her on her way. When she was out of sight, he turned back to Naruto.

"Ah, Naruto, it looks like we're all on our lonesome. Perhaps we should use this time to have a little chat."

Naruto blinked at his sensei, he then glanced in the direction Sakura just went and then turned back to Kakashi. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kakashi replied in a bored manner. He then turned and began walking away from where Sasuke was practicing. "Let's go somewhere more private." Naruto let out a resigned sigh as he followed his sensei.

As the two left, a pair of suspicious black eyes followed them. Sasuke let out a low growl before turning back to his tree and making another attempt at climbing it.

* * *

While Kakashi was leading Naruto away from the practice area, Naruto's mind was in overdrive trying to think of a reason Kakashi would need to speak to him. The only time his teachers ever pulled him aside to talk it was because he was in trouble.

Naruto began to rattle off the excuses he used to use when these situations came up. 'I didn't do it… I was eating ramen at the time... You have no proof… Kiba did it…' But then he realized something: he really hadn't done anything wrong… recently. Before he could question his sensei, Kakashi stopped walking and took a seat on a nearby log.

"So, uh, what did you want to talk to me about Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked nervously.

The jounin didn't answer immediately. He simply closed his visible eye, as if in deep thought. Finally he opened his eye, but still did not look at his student. Instead, Kakashi turned his gaze towards the sky as he spoke. "Uzumaki Naruto, dead last of his class in the academy, only passing the Genin Exam after failing three times. Due to special circumstances involving Touji Mizuki and the theft of the Forbidden Scroll, Umino Iruka graduated Naruto from the academy to the rank of genin at the age of twelve."

Now the poor genin was more confused than ever. Why was Kakashi talking about him as if he wasn't there? Naruto knew that his sensei was always a little flaky, but now he was wondering if his sensei had actually lost his mind.

Kakashi seemed oblivious to his student's confusion and continued speaking. "Lineage: Unknown. Taijutsu: D-rank, basic knowledge of Academy fighting style. Ninjutsu: High D to Low C-rank, profficient with _Kawarimi_ and _Henge no Jutsu_. Only known attack jutsu is _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_. Genjutsu: n/a, shows little to no aptitude for said skill. No other skills or techniques known. Chakra capacity: high chuunin, possibly low jounin level."

Naruto listened as Kakashi gave a detailed, albeit flawed, summary of his skills as a shinobi. Finally, the jounin lowered his gaze to meet his student's. "_That_ is what I read in your file when I became your sensei. However, ever since our team formed, you've proven time and again that the information in it has been a bit… inadequate."

'So that's what he's getting at,' Naruto realized. But he still didn't really know what to say to his sensei. "Uh, well, what can I say? I'm just full of surprises," he said with a goofy grin.

"No doubt," Kakashi replied evenly. "Tell me Naruto, do you know what 'killing intent' is?"

Naruto took on a thinking pose. "Uh, the intent to kill?" he said while shrugging his shoulders.

Kakashi just let out a sigh before continuing. "When Zabuza first disappeared into the mist, do you remember feeling a sense of dread and intense bloodlust?" Naruto only hesitated a moment before nodding. "That is 'killing intent' or ki. A skilled shinobi can focus their anger, hatred, or bloodlust and by adding their chakra to the mix, can emit a terrifying aura. Unless their opponent is used to it, this aura can paralyze or possibly drive them mad with fear. There have even been occurances when a shinobi emitted a ki so strong; his opponent actually took their own life."

Naruto shivered slightly at the thought. When he had felt Zabuza's ki during the fight, he admitted to himself, it had frightened him, but wasn't so scared as to even consider taking his own life because of it.

Despite Kakashi's explanation of Killing Intent and Zabuza's use of it, Naruto was still confused as to where the man was going with this. "Okay… but why did you need to talk to me about it?"

The jounin closed his one visible eye for a moment before responding. "Naruto, when you've been in this line of work as long as I have, you can read a person's emotions farely easily through body language, their voice, and even chakra fluctuations." Kakashi opened his eye and stared right at Naruto. "When Zabuza hit all of you with his ki, I could practically feel the anxiety rolling off of Sakura and Sasuke. Both were paralyzed with fear, and if I hadn't canceled out most of Zabuza's ki, they would have officially been taken out of the fight. Their reaction wasn't really that suprising; honestly, I'm more surprised that they didn't pass out. No, what really caught my attention was how you handled it."

Naruto stared at his sensei blankly. How was he supposed to have handled it? "Ano, Kakashi-sensei, I still don't know what you're getting at."

Kakashi let out a sigh before continuing. "The amount of 'Killing Intent' that Zabuza was releasing would have driven just about any fresh genin into fear induced shock. And I could tell you were afraid." Kakashi lifted his hand when Naruto made to speak. "However, you didn't freeze up like your teammates.

"There are only two real reasons I can think of that it didn't affect you the same way as Sakura and Sasuke." He raised one finger as he spoke. "First, someone trained you from an early age to ignore your emotions, like the Hyuuga or Aburame. I think it's pretty obvious that isn't the case," Kakashi said with a smile, which Naruto returned. "Second," he continued, his voice taking on a graver tone, "you've been subjected to 'killing intent' before, and have become more resistant to its effects."

Naruto shifted uncomfortably under his sensei's gaze. He had been subjected to Ki before, on several different occasions in fact. Ever since being 'released' from the orphanage at five years old, their have been moments when he'd felt the effects of someone's killing intent, even if he was just walking down the street. Whether it was some shinobi that held a grudge against him for the fox or the villagers' subconsciously emitting it, Naruto didn't know.

Then there were the teachers at the academy. Before Iruka became his class' sensei after his second year, Naruto's teachers made a habit of singling him out for punishment. And whenever he was separated from the class, either while out in the training field or in a corner in the classroom awaiting punishment, some of the teachers would bombard him with killing intent without affecting the other students or teachers noticing.

'They were probably trying to drive me out of the academy,' Naruto thought sadly. Fortunately, none of the teachers were skilled or powerful enough to emit a ki to scare him off without drawing attention to themselves.

"Naruto," Kakashi continued, his voice deadly serious, "have you ever felt ki before?"

Naruto was hesitant to tell the jounin about his past. In fact, Naruto never liked to talk about his treatment by a majority of the village to anyone. If there was one thing he disliked more than the cold stares of the villagers, it was pity. So he decided to go with a half truth.

"Well, during my fight with Mizuki, I felt a little bit of the same thing. So when Zabuza used it, I guess I was kinda used to it." Naruto tried not to cringe at his own flimsy excuse. But if Kakashi noticed he didn't say anything. "Besides, how am I ever going to become hokage if a little ki is going to scare me off," he said the same grin he put up whenever he was uncomfortable or upset.

Kakashi forced a smile to match his student's, but on the inside he was scowling at the grin. He had known Naruto long enough to recognize the difference between his true smiles and the false ones. Unfortunately, he'd seen the latter far more frequently than the former.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, is there anything else you wanted to talk to me about; I really want to get back to training."

Kakashi let out a sigh. Apparently he wasn't going to get anything more out of Naruto over the current subject. But the boy was hiding something; that much was obvious. 'Maybe Sandaime-sama knows something about this,' he mused to himself.

"Actually Naruto, there was something else I wanted to ask you about." Naruto sat in front of his sensei, doing his best to remain patient. "When you attacked Zabuza's clone, you did something odd with your kage bunshin. I've never seen one cause so much smoke when it was dispersed."

Naruto's smile altered slightly at that. "Oh that. I came up with that about a week ago. While I was practicing with a lot of clones, I noticed that when a bunch dispersed they made a pretty decent smoke screen. But I figured that it would be kind of pointless to have to use a few dozen clones just for that purpose, so I tried to figure out a way to increase the amount of smoke dispersed from a single clone. It took me a while to figure it out, but with an extra handseal and a little extra chakra, I was able to make a single kage bunshin produce more smoke than a hundred regular ones," Naruto finished with a proud smile.

Kakashi nodded at Naruto's explanation, his face remaining impassive behind his mask. But truth be told, he was rather amazed. The boy had known _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ for little over a month, and he was already modifying it. That was a complicated process even with the simplest of jutsus, but to alter a B-rank ninjutsu in such a short amount of time… It was impressive to say the least.

"What do you call it?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto puffed his chest out importantly. "I call it _Bunshin Enmaku_."

Kakashi looked up thoughtfully for a moment, mulling the name around in his head. "Short, simple, to the point…" he muttered while bringing his gaze back down to Naruto, "I like it."

A sweat drop formed on the back of Naruto's head. "Heh, thanks Kakashi-sensei, I guess." A brief silence fell between the pair. Kakashi doubted the boy would be very forthcoming with any real information on his past. That's what worried the jounin the most. It unnerved him greatly that he knew so little about his own student.

Naruto clambered to his feet after a moment's silence. "Well sensei, as much fun as this chat has been, I really should get back to training."

Kakashi nodded to Naruto's statement. "I suppose so. Well, if there's anything you need help with, don't hesitate to ask me or your teammates."

"Alright," Naruto said as he began walking away. "Thanks Kakashi-sensei," he called over his shoulder.

The jounin remained seated as he watched his second student walk off. When Naruto was out of sight he let out a weary sigh. He hadn't learned much of anything from their little chat. Kakashi could easily tell that the boy kept a lot from him. It seemed that despite Naruto's loud and talkative nature, he didn't like to discuss his personal life. Kakashi figured that either Naruto didn't trust him enough to confide in, or it was just too painful to drudge up the past. The jounin found neither prospect appealing.

With a grunt, Kakashi stood from the log and began to hobble back to Tazuna's home. He decided to put Naruto's behavior out of his mind. He couldn't force the boy to open up to him or his two other teammates. Kakashi would either have to wait for Naruto to come to him or get the information some other way.

'Hmm, that chuunin Iruka seems to be pretty close to him, he might know something,' Kakashi mused as he pulled out a little orange book.

* * *

Using the memories of his clones he created the day before, Naruto made his way to a clearing a fair distance away from Tazuna's home. Walking up to a seemingly random tree, he reached into a hollow space and retrieved his scroll and a deflated ball with a small hole in it.

Naruto examined the ball for a moment before letting out a sigh. The clone wasn't able to push out as much chakra as the original normally could without dispelling itself, so it just barely ruptured the ball. But every bit of practice helps, so he didn't let it get him down too much.

Looking to his scroll, Naruto found that it had a bit more writing in it than it had before. Inside were notes and observations from his clones, all on his latest jutsu.

After Naruto made his alterations to _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_, he decided to take a crack at creating his very own jutsu from scratch. Unfortunately, doing so was far more difficult than he thought. Since he wasn't working with an already existing jutsu, he had to start from square one. There was a lot of trial and error in creating a jutsu, so Naruto began having his clones take down notes to keep track of his progress. It was a pretty slow process, but one that Naruto was more than willing to go through.

Placing the scroll on the ground, Naruto took a seat next to it and struck a thinking pose. He had a lot of training to do and only one week to get it done. Zabuza was a tough opponent who was able to put Kakashi on the ropes, and if Naruto's impression of the false hunter-nin was correct, then he wasn't likely to be a pushover either. So he had to use this week to its fullest in order to face them.

But before he got into his training, there was something else he had to do. According to some of the books he read on strategy, if he ever found himself in a situation where he would face an opponent that he'd fought before, it was wise to analyze every detail his previous fights. That way, he might notice a pattern to their attacks, develop a defense, or possibly notice a weakness that he hadn't seen in the heat of battle. So, Naruto began to recall everything he could remember from the fight.

He remembered how his clones in the surrounding forest were systematically destroyed without seeing their attacker. He didn't know whether they were wiped out by Zabuza or the hunter-nin, probably both. Next came Zabuza's attack, his use of the mist further showcasing his mastery of stealth. The man also used a lot of water based jutsu, unsurprising since he was from Kiri. Unfortunately, Naruto only knew a few weak Doton jutsus, none of which were likely to work on someone of Zabuza's caliber.

Then came the killing intent, and like Kakashi said, it didn't affect Naruto as much as the others. It was a scare tactic meant to break down the morale of the group in order to take them out more effectively. It worked to a degree, since Zabuza was able to easily penetrate their defense and nearly dismembered them with his massive sword. If Naruto hadn't summoned his _kage bunshin _when he did…

Naruto paused in his recollection. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember using a hand seal when he performed the jutsu. Normally he'd just pass it off as reacting on reflex in battle, but he was holding a kunai at the time. He clearly remembered pulling out a kunai when his team fell into a defensive position. But the blade would have been awkward and cumbersome when he formed a hand seal, taking away from his reaction time unless he dropped it. But the blade had remained in his hand the whole time, and the clones had appeared almost instantly.

What could it mean? Naruto knew that all of his clones in the forest had been destroyed prior to Zabuza's attack, so they couldn't have performed the jutsu to save his team. So that just left him. What did he do to create four _kage bunshin_ without the usual hand seal?

Naruto tried to recall everything he felt and did. When Zabuza appeared in his team's formation, the only thought that ran through his shocked mind was to get his teammates and Tazuna to safety. He remembered consciously thinking of the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ and beginning to build up the chakra for it, but his hands never left his side. Instead, Naruto recalled feeling something inside him, molding his chakra for him. It was difficult to describe.

From what he'd read during his studies, Naruto knew that sealless jutsu were incredibly rare and difficult to perform. It took years of practice to perform even the three basic academy jutsu without seals. And beyond that, sealless jutsu were normally performed with objects, weapons, or even as a result of a bloodline. To pull off a high rank kinjutsu like _kage bunshin_ without seals was almost unheard of.

But Naruto had pulled it off, except he had no idea how the hell he did it.

The young jinchuriki almost let out a groan. He only had a week tops to train before the fight with Zabuza, and this had to come up. Just another skill he felt he should master before that time came.

'Thank Kami for _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_,' he thought to himself. Running a hand through his hair, Naruto tried to think of a way to best prioritize his time. So he started a mental checklist of all he wanted to train in before the week was up.

Training for the _Rasengan_ would remain, obviously. Being able to pull out an A-rank jutsu during a fight would definitely swing things in his favor. He also wanted to complete his new jutsu. From the way it was shaping up, he could tell it was going to be a pretty strong attack.

Then there was his taijutsu training. He still had his weights on, about a hundred and fifty pounds per limb. Actually, he was a little embarrassed that he'd forgotten about them during his encounter with Zabuza. But he shrugged off that feeling: after all, it just left a little surprise for the next time he faced them.

Before setting off to train, Naruto continued with his analysis of his enemies. Unfortunately there was very little to go on for Zabuza's accomplice, and none of it was promising for Team 7. The boy was obviously skilled, with intimate knowledge of human anatomy. But the rest of his techniques and skills were unknown.

'So, we're going up against an elite jounin and his partner, whom we know almost nothing about. Great,' Naruto thought sardonically. 'Oh well, I guess I'll just have to prepare as much as I can and hope for the best.' And with that uplifting thought he placed his hands in a cross seal to begin his training.

* * *

Sakura sat on a pile of supplies watching over Tazuna as he worked on the bridge. She was still a little miffed that it was her that was chosen for the first guard shift. 'Naruto-baka should be the one here instead of me. I could be using this time helping Saskuke-kun train.' The girl's mind shifted into fangirl mode. 'He'd probably have trouble for a little while, then I could give him some advice so he'd understand it even faster, then he'd tell me how eternally grateful he was for my help and then…'

"Hey girlie, why are you you the only one here, where are your teammates?" Tazuna asked, breaking the girl out of her daydream.

Sakura blinked at the unexpected question, but replied soon enough. "Oh, Kakashi-sensei had us work on a new exercise and since I'm so advanced at it he chose me to guard you," she said importantly.

Tazuna just stared at her for a moment. "Really?" he asked incredulously.

A vein throbbed in Sakura's forehead. "Yes, really," she said through gritted teeth.

"Okay, okay," Tazunas said, raising his hands defensively. He only lowered them when she calmed down. "So, your teammates were having trouble with this exercise."

Sakura didn't respond immediately. "Well… no. Naruto-baka figured it out somehow, but I still think he cheated."

Tazuna set down the load he was carrying and took a seat next to the girl. "You don't seem to like the blonde gaki that much."

"Naruto, ugh… of course not. He's a stupid, annoying, attention seeking jerk. He barely graduated from the academy, and he's always trying to upstage my Sasuke-kun. He's not even that good of a shinobi."

Tazuna raised an eyebrow at that comment. "I don't know about that. When that Zabuza guy attacked me, it was Naruto that saved your sensei, not you or your little boyfriend."

For a moment, Sakura was at a loss for words, but recovered soon enough. "That's just because he got lucky. I'm sure Sasuke-kun would have come up with a plan to save us if Naruto hadn't been in the way. After all, he's from an elite shinobi clan," she said in a know-it-all fashion.

"Oh, and who were Naruto's parents?" Tazuna queried.

Again, Sakura didn't immediately respond. "Well, no one really knows who his parents were, Naruto's an orphan."

Tazuna's features saddened a bit. "Oh, that must have been hard on him then, not growing up with a family."

Sakura just shook her head. "Nah, Naruto doesn't care. He's always laughing and joking around. He doesn't know anything about responsibility because no one cares if he gets into trouble. My parents would ground me from now until judgement day if I tried any of the things Naruto has. He's so lucky."

When Sakura looked up at Tazuna, she was greeted with a glare. "I'm willing to bet that Naruto doesn't feel the same way," he said with an icy tone. "You're parents punish you because they care about the person you'll become, and I'm sure Naruto would give anything to know that someone cared for him that much." Tazuna stood and began to walk back to work, but stopped after a few steps. "You say that he's always laughing and joking around. Sometimes the people who laugh the loudest are the ones who are hurting the most. They do it so that no one else has to see their pain." With that, Tazuna continued on with his work.

Sakura was stunned. She'd never really heard anyone defend Naruto in that way. She tried to push it out of her mind, the idea of a depressed Naruto was too ridiculous to imagine. But Tazuna's words stuck in her mind. 'Naruto couldn't be that deep, could he?' Sakura thought. For once, 'inner' Sakura had nothing to say.

* * *

Team 7 was gathered in Tazuna's home, enjoying a dinner cooked by Tsunami. Sasuke and Naruto both looked extremely worn and tired. Sasuke had been running up the side of his tree almost nonstop since Kakashi had marched them out there. He'd made admirable progress, but it was far from enough for him. Naruto had also spent most of his day training, but in what his teammates didn't know.

Sakura kept throwing curious glances at Naruto through the meal instead of fawning over the Uchiha. The conversation with Tazuna was still fresh in her mind. Her teammates would have found her behavior odd if they hadn't been too exhausted to notice. Eventually Sakura tried to find something to distract herself from her thoughts, so she looked around the room. Her eyes were drawn to a torn picture on the wall.

"Hey, why does that picture have a corner ripped off? It looks like someone's missing from it."

Silence filled the room for a long moment. Tazuna and Tsunami shared nervous. Suddenly, Inari stood up from his seat and walked out of the room.

"Inari!" his mother called after him, but to no avail.

Sakura looked contrite. "Did I say something wrong?"

Tazuna shook his head sadly. "No, there was no way you could have known. The man missing from that photo is Inari's stepfather, a hero in this country." He then began to tell them the story of Kaiza, how he'd met Inari, and all he had done for Wave. He finished with the man's execution at the hands of Gatou and his thugs. "Ever since that day, Inari changed, and this village lost all hope."

Sakura's eyes were brimming with tears. "Th-That's terrible. And poor Inari was forced to watch all of it."

Naruto nodded slightly in agreement. He thought back on the boy's behaviour since they'd arrived. At least now he saw where the brat was coming from, though that still didn't mean he agreed with it. Inari's attitude just reminded him too much of the brooding wonder sitting across from him. Cleaning up the last scraps on his plate, Naruto stood from the table and began to walk to the door.

"Where are you going Naruto?" asked Kakashi. "It would be a bad idea to train; you're obviously exhausted from today."

"Gomen sensei, but I have to prove something to that kid," Naruto said over his shoulder.

"Prove what?" questioned Sakura.

"That there are still heroes in this world." With that, Naruto walked out of the house into the forest.

He quickly made his way to his clearing, all previous fatigue forgotten. If he was going to help this country and Tazuna's family, he didn't have time to be tired. He grabbed one of the few rubber balls he had left, and then seated himself on the ground. Closing his eyes, he began to focus all of his attention on the ball in his right hand.

Naruto had to learn this jutsu. He needed to help Tazuna complete his bridge, to stop Gatou. This country was being held under an oppressive thumb and kept in perpetual poverty, something Naruto had first hand experience in. And he'd be damned if he'd let an entire country suffer that fate because of one greedy bastard.

Chakra began to build up in his palm. 'Focus,' he thought.

Images began to flood his mind: the poverty stricken village, Inari's downcast expression at the mention of his father, Tazuna's determination to complete his bridge, to bring back the hope of his people.

More chakra was being forced to his hand. 'Focus!'

His teammates flashed before his eyes, fighting for their lives against the Demon Brothers, standing against Zabuza to defend Tazuna; Kakashi falling prey to Zabuza's trap. He needed to get stronger to make sure they made it out of those situations again.

Naruto could feel the chakra in his hand was almost ready to explode, but held it back. 'FOCUS!'

Next came his precious people back home. The people he had to protect at all costs. Iruka, Sarutobi, Ayame, Teuchi, Konohamaru, Gai, Lee, Hinata…

His eyes snapped open. 'NOW!!' The chakra in his hand burst forward as Naruto spun it as fast as he could. The ball was instantly shredded in a violent maelstrom of chakra. The backlash was so intense Naruto was blown off his feet, sending him skidding across the forest floor for several yards.

Naruto lay where he landed for several moments before rolling on to his back. A grin slowly spread across his face. "Too easy," he murmered. With grunt of exertion, he pulled himself to his feet. Now his real training could begin.


End file.
